Global PPC Survey: 98% of advertisers use Google Ads

Results of a global PPC survey just released by Amsterdam-based paid search audit providers Trueclicks show that Google Ads (excluding YouTube) is the PPC platform most used by advertisers worldwide, with an overall adoption rate of 98% and regional adoption as follows:

• Continental Europe 98%
• North America 96%
• UK & Ireland 97%
• South & Southeast Asia 97%
• Australia & New Zealand 100%
• Middle East 96%

Facebook and Instagram consistently came in at #2 and #3, with regional adoption rates ranging from 65%-96% (Facebook) and 58%-92% (Instagram).

Some marked regional differences in platform adoption are:

• Microsoft Advertising is less used in the Middle East (24% vs. global average of 67%).
• Amazon Ads are more popular in North America (25%) than in other regions (17% average).
• Reddit is used more in North America (19%) vs. Continental Europe (7%).
• Snapchat (36%) and Yandex (16%) are used more in the Middle East than in other regions.

Global adoption of Google PPC by advertiser monthly spend is pretty consistent:

• Less than $5K (91%)
• $5K-$50K (97%)
• $50K-$500K (99%)
• $500K - $3M (100%)
• More than $3M (96%)

Marketers reported that most-used Google paid search products are:

1. Google Search text ads (94%)
2. Performance Max campaigns (74%)
3. Standard shopping campaigns (62%)

Across organizations managing PPC campaigns, the most common monthly ad spend is $50K-$500K:

• In-house at advertisers: 41%
• Agencies: 39%
• PPC Freelancers: 38%

Goals for 2024 PPC campaigns cited by respondents were:

1. Efficient growth - more results but meeting efficiency targets (ROAS, CPA, etc.) 72%
2. Improved efficiency - more results from same budget 19%
3. Aggressive growth - more results with lower efficiency 7%
4. Decreased spend while maintaining results 2%

When asked if managing PPC campaigns is harder or easier now that 2 years ago, respondents said:

• Somewhat easier 14%
• Much easier 2%
• Somewhat harder 38%
• Much harder 11%
• About the same 35%

So more said "harder" than "easier" (49% vs. 16%).

Factors respondents said are making PPC campaign management harder in 2024:

• Less control over campaigns because of automated bidding, Performance Max, loosening of Exact Match (#1 issue cited by 49%)
• Fewer data available, Google hiding data
• Increased competition leading to higher CPCs, lower efficiency (CPA, ROAS)
• Tracking and attribution more difficult
• Automation making it difficult to get a competitive edge
• Privacy issues: regulation, loss of 3rd-party cookies

Challenges in agency-client relationships cited by respondents included:

• Expectation management: clients' expectations unreasonable (#1 issue)
• Client education: how things work, what to expect
• Client satisfaction: keeping them happy
• Time management: scope creep, capacity management
• Insufficient access to client data
• Communication: reporting, getting client feedback
• Budgets not getting results, or getting cut

Agency pricing models:

1. Flat fee based on monthly spend (tiered model) 20%
2. Billable hours 19%
3. Different for each client 16%
4. Flat fee + percentage of spend 15%
5. Flat fee (other) 11%
6. Percentage of spend under management 8%
7. Performance based 2%
8. Other 3%
9. Don't know/didn't answer 6%

Pricing by billable hours is significantly different in prevalence between North America (11%) and Continental Europe (28%). One American respondent commented:

“Especially for agencies who provide the type of tangible value
created by PPC programs, simply billing for time is a wildly
suboptimal way to capture the value created for clients."

How agencies pay for software used on behalf of clients:

• Consider as overhead 57%
• Charge clients for technology used for them 17%
• Charge all or most clients a "technology fee" 10% (predominantly agencies managing more than $3M/month)
• Other 4%
• Don't know 12%

Trust in Google ads has taken a hit this year, as respondents rated how their level of trust has changed in 2024 vs. 2023:

• Considerable lower 20%
• Slightly lower 34%
• About the same 31%
• Slightly higher 10%
• Considerably higher 6%

Google Ads campaigns and targeting options respondents said they use "always" or "often" (top 5):

1. Exact match keywords 75%
2. Phrase match keywords 69%
3. Performance max with product feed 51%
4. Dynamic Search Ads 50%
5. Display campaigns for retargeting 48%

Google Ads bid strategies respondents said they use "always" or "often" (top 5):

1. Maximize conversion value with tROAS 60%
2. Maximize conversions with tCPA 55%
3. Maximize conversions 53%
4. Maximize conversion value 46%
5. Manual CPC 28%

Comment: Use of Manual CPC continues to hang on, but automated bid strategies will overcome it sooner or later. Don't get left behind.

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