The Evolution of Paid Search

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Paid search marketing, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, has evolved significantly in recent years and remains a vital but more nuanced part of any comprehensive digital marketing strategy. As consumers continue to shift their attention to online channels, businesses of all sizes are turning to paid search to reach their target audiences and drive conversions. This blog post will look at the current state of paid search marketing, paid search trends for 2023, and the developments shaping its future.

Artificial Intelligence and Paid Search

Machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence) are bound to make waves in the future of paid search. In fact, the introduction of this blog is written by ChatGPT. When asked to write a “1500-word blog post on the current state and future of paid search marketing,” ChatGPT scoured the web for data and dutifully got to work. 

ChatGPT is one of many AI software; with far-reaching effects in every industry. If AI can quickly and seamlessly curate a blog post introduction, imagine the potential impacts that machine learning and AI have in keeping up with evolving consumer changes in the world of paid search. But don’t just take our word for it, tech giant, Microsoft, has put a substantial investment in ChatGPT to help improve their search results.

Platforms Need Growth

At the end of the day, public companies like Google are expected to grow. According to Similarweb, Google.com is the most trafficked website in the world, followed by YouTube.com. But, they might have their work cut out to increase consumer engagement points. At their current scale of traffic, it’s very difficult to add additional eyeballs/searchers. 

As Google aims to increase media spend, it’s vital to consider how they can increase the impressions and engagement opportunities with actual customers while still adding value for those consumers and the advertisers who wish to serve them. With new campaign structures like Performance Max (PMax), advertisers can reach consumers throughout different stages of their journey. In addition to the search engine results page, placements are available on YouTube, their Discover feed, the Google Display Network, and Google Maps.

While automation is helping advertisers get in front of users earlier in their journey, it’s also allowing Google to increase customer touchpoints. Particularly in surfaces and engagement formats that consumers are leaning into more and more as they change how they want to search for and find information.

Consumers Seek A Visual Discovery Experience

Consumers themselves are changing their behaviors. While Morgan Stanley reported this year that 61% of product-oriented shopper journeys start on Google (an increase from 50% in 2020), many journeys and research are starting on other platforms – and many of those platforms might be different from what you expect. 

This summer, even Google reported that 40% of Americans between 18-24 are starting their searches on TikTok and Instagram. These platforms rose to popularity from shared dance and music videos, instead of going to a platform like Google that was purpose-built (ideally) for search and helping consumers find what they need.  

And this behavior is not limited to the youngest demographic on TikTok and Instagram. According to data from Insider Intelligence, 15-20% of searchers use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and other social platforms to search. Both social and visual by design, these platforms draw the masses.

1. Social Platforms: Thanks to the algorithm, users effortlessly receive recommendations and selections from people similar to them.
2. Visual Platforms: Information and products are presented in a richer format, often videos. It’s this visual experience that may be so appealing to searchers. If a picture is worth a thousand words, an informative video is endlessly more helpful and efficient than text. And, now that the search and recommendation engines of these social platforms are catching up, users are finding the info they need in much faster and more intuitive ways than they likely are on traditional search engine result pages.  

This behavior change isn’t just driven by the youngest generation, who started their digital lives on Snapchat and TikTok. Additional research shows that 26% of 35-54-year-olds have used or regularly use visual search options, and search platforms like Google are paying attention to these trends. 

In their September “Search On” event, 7 of the 9 top announcements lauded on the Google Ads Blog are features that help searches to better identify, filter, or organize their visual shopping results. Among the updates are features that showcase visualized results according to the latest trends and provide more personalized results within shopping.

And don’t forget about Performance Max. This new campaign type also aligns with consumers’ desires for more visual representations – putting Discover, YouTube, and Display ads in front of customers in their journeys – ideally before they even reach the point of a search query.

CONCLUSION

The latest evolution in our search landscapes is heating up; think ChatGPT and Microsoft’s investment AI. But staying focused on what the consumer wants and the channels they most want to connect with you on will always be your keys to success. We’ll be posting more on this evolution throughout the year so you can continuously improve your search campaigns. Please reach out if you have questions about how our team can help you capitalize on these changes!

Ryan Gibson

Ryan is VP of Strategy at Adlucent. He has over 15 years experience working with digital and multi-channel marketers to drive better results from their programs. His perspectives of online marketing are based on analyzing data-driven insights from an array of advertisers - from enterprise to start ups - as they capitalized on customer-centric, full-funnel programs across search, social, shopping and digital media.