Paid Search Revenue Gains Outpaced Retailer Ad Spend On Black Friday, Cyber Monday

Over the Thanksgiving week, retailers increased ad spend on paid search by 49 percent compared to 2013, according to new data from Kenshoo. On the biggest shopping days — Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday — revenue increases outweighed the jump in ad spend from the previous year.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday saw the lowest percentage increase in spend on search ads across Google and the Yahoo Bing Network. Black Friday revenue grew by 42 percent as retailers increased spend by just 24 percent.

Thanksgiving day saw the highest activity gains, in both ad spend and revenue gains. Kenshoo’s U.S. retail clients increased paid search spend on Thanksgiving by 49 percent, while revenue from paid search was 54 percent higher on Thanksgiving day than it was in 2013.

The lowest percentage increase in spend occurred on Cyber Monday. Spend rose by just 18 percent, perhaps indicating retailers are nearing a spend ceiling on this day. Revenue, however, increased by 34 percent compared to 2013.

Despite the lower percentage increases, Black Friday and Cyber Monday were the highest spending days of the week. Overall, advertisers realized a 34 percent increase in revenue from paid search in November compared to the previous year.

Google PLAs Continue To Drive Growth

When Kenshoo looked specifically at U.S. retailer investment in Google Shopping Campaigns over the Thanksgiving week, it found daily spend nearly doubled compared to 2013. Interestingly, peak spending on product listing ads (PLAs) this year shifted from Cyber Monday to Black Friday.

PLA spending on Thanksgiving increased by 143 percent on Thanksgiving, by 113 percent on Black Friday and by 59 percent on Cyber Monday.

Looking across its platform globally, Kenshoo found that on the big-three shopping days — Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday — conversion rates are at their highest, peaking at 6 percent on Cyber Monday.