Google Produced 96% of US Mobile Search Visits in Q4 2018

Google is the dominant search engine: that comes as no surprise. Yet new data from Q4 of 2018 shows just how strong is Google’s hold on the search market. Find out what that means for your paid advertising campaigns and organic search.

Q4 2018 Search Statistics

According to Merkle’s Q4 2018 Digital Marketing Report, 96 percent of all mobile search visits in the U.S. originated from Google. In contrast, Yahoo and Bing each delivered 2 percent or mobile searches, with 0.5 percent contributed from DuckDuckGo.

For overall search trends, the data was similar. Bing’s share doubled to 4 percent, Yahoo took 3 percent, and Google claimed 93 percent.

Looking back at 2017 search trends, the data is relatively similar, with Google’s share of search traffic growing by one percent between 2017 and 2018.

What’s the Takeaway for Brands?

For brands, there’s a clear takeaway here. No matter what demographic you are targeting, almost all of your users are searching via Google.

This is important when you think about paid search campaigns. Competitive keywords can often be cheaper over on Bing, and if you’re budget-conscious you might think about running PPC campaigns on Bing, rather than on Google. The data shows the relative size of the user group you’ll reach by advertising on Bing: just 2 to 4 percent of searchers, depending on mobile vs. overall data.

The same goes for organic search: If you’re planning a major SEO campaign, you’ll want to track results in Google.

Effective marketing starts with knowing your goals, understanding your options, and determining the most effective action to get closer to your goals. At Upright Communications, we help brands generate strategic marketing campaigns to boost revenue. To learn more about working together, contact us.