People Mostly Click on Google Text Ads That Directly Answer Their Search Query, but Branded Search Engine Marketing Ads Also Have an Impact on Amazon and YouTube

Three-fourths of people (75%) say paid search ads make it easier to find the information they search for on a website or search engine, according to a new survey from Clutch, the leading B2B research, ratings, and reviews company.

Most people easily recognize paid search ads: 77% are confident in their ability to identify paid search ads such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Because people can recognize paid search ads, it’s important for businesses to produce ads that are useful and relevant to their audiences.

The most common reason why people click on a paid search ad is if it directly responds to the information they are searching for online (33%).

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Google Text Ads Earn the Most Clicks

People click on the search ads they see the most: text ads on Google.

People are more likely to click on text ads (49%) than shopping/product listing ads (31%) or video ads (19%).

In addition, 63% of people click on Google ads, four times as many people who click on search ads on any other search engine – Amazon (14%), YouTube (9%), and Bing (6%).

People respond differently to Amazon and YouTube paid search ads than they do to Google search ads.

The most likely reason people click on a search ad on Amazon and YouTube is because it mentions a brand they are familiar with (33%).

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“On Amazon, I do find it interesting that people click brands they are familiar with,” said Sherman Stanberry, managing partner of Lyfe Marketing, a digital marketing company in Atlanta. “I think it could be a good advertising play for larger or more recognizable brands.”

Paid Search Advertising on Multiple Sites Can Improve Search Ad Engagement

People’s preferred paid search ad formats correspond to the sites they use.

• More than half of people (55%) who click on Google search ads prefer text ads.
• Those who click on Amazon advertisements favor shopping/product listing ads (50%).
• Those who click on YouTube advertisements favor video ads (36%).

Businesses that create video and shopping/product listing ads (PLAs) can engage with potential customers on Amazon and YouTube.

Businesses also benefit from including Bing as part of their search engine marketing strategy, as it has a higher click-through rate for paid search ads than Google.

Clutch surveyed 506 people who have clicked on a paid search ad in the past month.

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