Why Do People Click on Search Ads
- By Joe Wozny
- •
- 25 Jul, 2019
Better Decisions in Digital Advertising
Knowing the reasons why people click on paid search ads allows you to make better decisions about how to use and optimize search advertising in your business.
Paid search is an established and helpful tool to find your prospective customers. In fact, 75% of people surveyed believe search ads make it easier to find information online, regardless of the platform they use including Google Ads, Amazon Advertising, Bing Ads and YouTube.
Paid Ads Are Easily Recognized - 80% of people are confident they can recognize a paid ad. This identification provides a perception expectation that the ad would be valuable to them.
Demonstrated Value - Ads answering direct search inquiries and assisting with the person’s specific question, are the most valuable and rememberable.
A Familiar Brand - Branded paid search ads appeal to people who search for information about services, retail and consumer goods, and videos.
The Right Messaging - 19% of people click on paid search advertising because of a compelling title, description or image.
The Platform Matters - Nearly two-thirds of people (63%) are most likely to click on a Google search advertisement in comparison to 14% on Amazon and 9% on YouTube.
Types of Ads Clicked is Determined by the Platform Used - The paid search advertisements people click on depend on the websites they use:
- More than half of people (55%) who click on Google search ads prefer the text ad format.
- People who click on Amazon advertisements favour shopping/product listing ads (50%).
- People engaged in activities on YouTube favour video ads (36%)
Do We Prefer Text Ads? - Nearly half of us (49%) are most likely to click on a paid search text advertisement, while around one-third (31%) are likely to click on a shopping ad and 16% are likely to click on a video ad.
Repetition from Multiple Sources - Paid search ads on multiple platforms improve click through rates.
Ad Location in Mobile - Mobile interfaces often display only paid ads above the fold on the screen. No scrolling = convenience = better performance.
Bottom Line: Your target customers have high expectations about paid search ads. The time spent in making your brand look smarter pays off in clicks and conversions. Thoughtfully tailor your ads for best results.
