What are the current trends in search marketing broken down by type of device, industry, and search engine companies?

The Search Agency, an international marketing agency that provides digital marketing research, recently released its Q4 2013 State of Search Report, showing that YoY (year-over-year) paid search spending increased by a mighty 37%.

The report is derived from aggregated search engine advertising data from agency clients in the US only. Key findings this quarter include the rise of CPC (cost per click) YoY by 27.6% and quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) 5.8%. Reports over several quarters have shown CPC spikes, linked to Google Enhanced Campaigns.

According to the report, growth in mobile use is propelling these increases. For Google and Bing, CPC increases hit the double digits across smartphones, tablets, and desktops.

What share of the pie do clicks for your content from smartphones and tablets represent? The report states that one-fifth of all clicks come from tablets and one-eighth from smartphones; however, tablet adoption is slowing down, while smartphone use is still bursting. Looking at smartphones only, the agency report showed that Google´s CPCs rose 25.2% YoY, while Bing’s shot up 104%.

All news for Bing, however, was not so favourable, at least according to the report. Among report clients, Bing Ads clicks went down 20%, this on the heels of three consecutive quarters of growth. Search Agency executive Delia Perez said: “Bing posted strong numbers early last year, but we saw a marked cooling of growth last quarter. As advertisers ramped up their activity around holiday shopping, Google’s Product Listing Ads got a boost, which took its toll on Bing.”

Recently released search engine reports by other agencies paint a different picture. RKG’s Q4 report showed a 43% spending increase for Bing Ads and 37% growth YoY for clicks.

Google’s Product Listing Ads (PLAs) were winners across the board, with The Search Agency report showing boosts in impressions, spending, and clicks over quarter and year. Other agency search reports show consistent positive data for PLAs, which combine text with images. IgnitionOne’s report released last week, for example, reveals that the YoY spending increased 618% for PLAs, which drove impressions (10% of total), clicks (13%), and spend (16%).