Tablets to grab 20% of Google ad revenue in 2013

 

Gallery

By Dave Stevenson

Posted on 13 Feb 2013 at 14:30

Tablets are starting to grab advertising from the web, making up as much as a fifth of Google's ad revenue in the US this year, according to Marin Software.

The online marketing firm also found click-through rates (CTR) higher on mobile devices than on desktop operating systems. British smartphones produced a CTR of nearly 6%, while tablets contributed another 4%. By comparison, desktops were a relatively poor performer for Google with a CTR of 2.3%.

Conversion rates - the number who buy something after clicking an advertisement - remain better on desktops, however.

In the UK, 4.1% of users who clicked on an ad went on to spend money, compared to 2.6% on tablets and just 1.6% on smartphones.

However, Marin’s report noted that "smartphone conversions may be happening via a phone call or in a physical store, leading to artificially depressed measurements".

There was particularly good news for Google’s British arm, which saw UK smartphones and tablets generating 24.4% of all paid clicks from Google’s adverts in 2012 - an increase of 65% versus 2011.