Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Google dominates the global search engine market with a share of approximately 91.9%
Google processes over 8.5 billion searches per day
The first organic result in Google Search has an average click-through rate of 27.6%
Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads
The average click-through rate (CTR) in Google Ads across all industries is 3.17% for the search network
The average cost per click (CPC) in Google Ads across all industries is $2.69 for the search network
Mobile devices account for 63% of organic search engine visits
"Near me" or "nearby" searches grew by more than 900% over two years
76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world
YouTube has over 2.5 billion monthly active users
More than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices
59% of shoppers say they research a purchase on Google before buying in-store or online
27% of the global online population is using voice search on mobile
49% of users say they use Google to discover or find a new product or item
Consumer Behavior & Trends
- 159% of shoppers say they research a purchase on Google before buying in-store or online
- 227% of the global online population is using voice search on mobile
- 349% of users say they use Google to discover or find a new product or item
- 463% of shopping occasions begin online
- 5Queries for "image search" on mobile have grown by over 60% in the past two years
- 690% of consumers have used the internet to find a local business in the last year
- 751% of shoppers surveyed say they use Google to research a purchase they plan to make online
- 850% of consumers are interested in using visual search (like Google Lens) for purchases
- 985% of shoppers say product information and pictures are important to them when deciding which brand or retailer to buy from
- 10Searches for "best [product] for [person/need]" (e.g. best shampoo for curly hair) have grown 70% in the past two years
- 1168% of consumers say it's important to be able to check inventory online before going to a store
- 1280% of shoppers used a mobile phone inside of a physical store to either look up product reviews compare prices or find alternative store locations
- 1344% of consumers use voice search daily
- 1439% of purchasers are influenced by a relevant search during their shopping journey
- 15Searches for "ethical brands" and "sustainable brands" have increased significantly on Google
- 1655% of consumers search for a product on Google and then move to YouTube to learn more about it before buying
- 1760% of consumers credit an online search for helping them find a retailer other than the one they had in mind
- 1875% of online shoppers expect brands to know their purchase history
- 1940% of millennials use voice search before making a purchase online
- 20Global searches for "curbside pickup" grew over 3000% year over year
Interpretation
Google has quietly become shoppers' default mall, stylist and concierge: about two-thirds of shopping journeys now start online and people increasingly use search, voice and visual tools to discover products, check inventory, compare prices, watch YouTube reviews and find ethical or local options, so retailers who don't provide rich visuals, accurate stock and seamless mobile experiences will lose the sale to someone who does.
Google Ads & PPC
- 1Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads
- 2The average click-through rate (CTR) in Google Ads across all industries is 3.17% for the search network
- 3The average cost per click (CPC) in Google Ads across all industries is $2.69 for the search network
- 4Google Display Network reaches over 90% of global internet users
- 5Consumers who click on a Google Ad are 50% more likely to purchase than organic visitors
- 665% of all clicks on Google Ads come from buyers intending to purchase
- 780% of all businesses focus on Google Ads for PPC campaigns
- 8The legal industry has one of the highest average CPCs at over $6
- 9The average conversion rate for Google Ads on the search network is 3.75%
- 10Responsive Search Ads have a 5-15% higher click-through rate compared to standard text ads
- 1149% of people pledge to click on text ads; 31% on Shopping ads; and 16% on video ads
- 1241% of clicks on a search page go to the top 3 paid ads
- 13Google Shopping ads drive 76% of retail search ad spend
- 1463% of people say they would click on a Google ad
- 15A personalized PPC landing page can increase conversions by 5% or more
- 1645.4% of internet users have used an ad blocker, reducing potential reach
- 1798% of advertiser churn on Google Ads is due to poor campaign management or lack of results
- 18The 'Arts & Entertainment' industry has the lowest CPC at $0.47
- 19Increasing your Google Ads quality score from 5 to 7 results in a 28.6% decrease in cost per conversion
- 2077% of marketers plan to increase their Google Ads spend in the coming year
Interpretation
Think of Google Ads as a high maintenance marketplace where every dollar can return roughly two, paid clicks are 50% more likely to convert than organic visitors, the average search CTR is 3.17% with a $2.69 CPC and a 3.75% conversion rate, Display reaches over 90% of internet users, the top three paid results and Shopping ads grab a huge share of clicks and 76% of retail search ad spend, responsive ads and personalized landing pages boost CTRs and conversions while lifting your quality score cuts cost per conversion, CPCs range from about $0.47 in Arts to over $6 in Legal, ad blockers and poor campaign management drive most advertiser churn, and no wonder 77% of marketers plan to increase their budgets.
Mobile & Local Search
- 1Mobile devices account for 63% of organic search engine visits
- 2"Near me" or "nearby" searches grew by more than 900% over two years
- 376% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day
- 428% of local searches result in a purchase
- 5Google Maps is used by over 1 billion people every month
- 686% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps
- 754% of smartphone users search for business hours in local search
- 830% of all mobile searches are related to location
- 9Local listings with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions
- 1088% of consumer local business searches on a mobile device result in either a call or visit to the business within 24 hours
- 11Since 2016, mobile search queries surpassed desktop search queries globally
- 1251% of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product when conducting a search on their smartphone
- 13Searches for "open now near me" have grown globally by over 400% YOY
- 1492% of searchers will pick a business on the first page of local search results
- 15Complete Google Business Profiles inspire 7x more clicks than incomplete ones
- 16Voice search produces a local result 3 times more often than text search
- 1767% of smartphone users are more likely to buy from companies whose mobile sites customize information to their location
- 18The average mobile page takes 15.3 seconds to load fully
- 1953% of visits to a mobile site are abandoned if a page takes more than 3 seconds to load
- 2061% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site
Interpretation
In short, mobile now rules local search: "near me" and "open now" queries have exploded, Google Maps reaches over a billion people monthly, and most mobile local searches lead to a call, visit or purchase within a day, so businesses without complete, photo-rich Google profiles, fast mobile pages that personalize by location and support voice search are essentially invisible to the impatient customers walking past their door.
Search Engine & SEO
- 1Google dominates the global search engine market with a share of approximately 91.9%
- 2Google processes over 8.5 billion searches per day
- 3The first organic result in Google Search has an average click-through rate of 27.6%
- 40.63% of Google searchers click on something from the second page
- 5Approximately 15% of all searches on Google are brand new and have never been searched before
- 6The average top-ranking page on Google also ranks in the top 10 search results for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords
- 753.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
- 890.63% of content gets no traffic from Google
- 9Google's search algorithm uses more than 200 factors to rank websites
- 10Titles with a question mark have a 14.1% higher click-through rate
- 11The average word count of a Google first page result is 1,447 words
- 12Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%
- 1360% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the search results
- 1446% of all Google searches are seeking local information
- 15Domains with high brand authority tend to rank higher in Google search results
- 16Only 5.7% of pages will rank in the top 10 search results within a year of publication
- 1769.7% of search queries contain four words or more
- 18Featured snippets appear in approximately 12.3% of search queries
- 19URLs that contain a keyword have a 45% higher click-through rate than URLs that do not
- 20Websites with faster loading times rank significantly higher on Google
Interpretation
With Google controlling about 91.9% of search and processing over 8.5 billion queries a day, the ruthless reality is that only the first organic result, which averages a 27.6% click-through rate, and the occasional featured snippet will steal attention from the 90.63% of content that gets no Google traffic, so if you want a shot at the 53.3% of web traffic that comes from organic search you must publish long, fast-loading, keyword-rich pages—since the average top result is 1,447 words and ranks for nearly 1,000 related keywords—optimize titles as questions and URLs with keywords, focus on local and mobile intent where 46% of searches and 60% of users convert directly, update old posts to potentially double your traffic, build real brand authority, and play the long game because Google uses more than 200 ranking factors, 15% of queries are brand-new, 69.7% are four words or longer, featured snippets appear in about 12.3% of searches, and only 5.7% of pages crack the top ten within a year.
YouTube & Video Marketing
- 1YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world
- 2YouTube has over 2.5 billion monthly active users
- 3More than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices
- 490% of people say they discover new brands or products on YouTube
- 5Viewers are 4X more likely to use YouTube to find information about a brand, product, or service vs other platforms
- 6YouTube Shorts receives 50 billion daily views
- 768% of YouTube users watch a video to help them make a purchase decision
- 8YouTube reaches more 18-49 year-olds in an average week than all cable TV networks combined
- 970% of viewers bought a brand as a result of seeing it on YouTube
- 10Video content is 1200% more successful than other content in generating shares
- 11The top user interest on YouTube is music
- 12Paid YouTube mobile advertising is 84% more likely to receive attention than TV advertising
- 13Advertisers using YouTube's TrueView for action saw 150% more conversions
- 1459% of executives say they would rather watch a video than read text
- 15How-to videos earn the most attention of any YouTube video category
- 1662% of businesses use YouTube as a channel to post video content
- 17Over 1 billion hours of video are watched on YouTube every day
- 1890% of top-performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails
- 19Videos over 15 minutes perform best on YouTube regarding engagement
- 20YouTube ads utilizing intent signals have a 100% higher lift in purchase intent
Interpretation
Put simply, YouTube is the world's second largest search engine with over 2.5 billion monthly users and more 18 to 49 year olds reached weekly than all cable networks combined, and its mobile-first audience—generating over 1 billion hours of viewing a day, 70 percent of watch time on phones and 50 billion Shorts views daily—makes it the dominant discovery and purchase platform where 90 percent of people find new brands, 70 percent have bought a brand after seeing it, viewers are far more likely to research brands on YouTube than elsewhere, advertisers earn dramatically higher attention and conversions (84 percent more attention for paid mobile ads, 150 percent more conversions with TrueView for action and a 100 percent lift in purchase intent using intent signals), and creators and businesses who lean into how-to content, custom thumbnails, longer videos and Shorts win the engagement, shares and sales that prove YouTube is the place to be if you want to be seen and bought.
