PPC Trends in 2024: Growth, Automation, and New Platforms

Get ready to dive into the world of PPC advertising in 2024! This Monthly Insights article explores key trends shaping the PPC landscape, including the projected rise in global ad spend and the growing importance of automation and AI-powered features.

We’re going to share 2024’s top stats for pay per click advertising to help you grow traffic and revenue. Let’s start with the biggest of PPC trends in 2024…

Global PPC Advertising Spending On The Rise. The projected global expenditure on search advertising is expected to reach a staggering $190.5 billion in 2024.¹

Top PPC Platforms in 2024: Familiar Favorites and Rising Stars

What are the top platforms advertisers are using to reach their target audiences in 2024?

Whether you are new to advertising or looking to expand your ad campaign portfolio, these platforms are must-haves in 2024.

This section highlights the dominance of Google Ads, the continued strength of Meta Platforms (Facebook and Instagram Ads), and the increasing popularity of TikTok, particularly for e-commerce businesses.

• PPC Powerhouse: Google Ads remains the most popular platform, with ad revenue reaching an estimated $190 billion.²
• Social Media Mainstays: Meta Platforms (Facebook and Instagram Ads) are still significant players for advertisers.
• Ecommerce on the Rise: TikTok has become a hotbed for PPC advertising, especially for e-commerce businesses.
• B2B Powerhouses: LinkedIn and Taboola are known for their effectiveness in B2B advertising.

The average cost per click for PPC ads across all industry verticals is $4.66 in 2024.

Conversion Rates: The Heart of PPC Success

It all boils down to this – Conversions. The ultimate metric of your PPC success is conversion rate. While it’s not the only data point, it’s one of the most important KPIs for measuring PPC ad performance.

Not all clicks are created equal! PPC trends in 2024 continue to emphasize the importance of conversion rates, which indicate the percentage of ad clicks that convert into sales or leads. The average conversion rate for search ads sits at 6.96%, highlighting the power of effective PPC campaigns.³

• Turning Clicks into Conversions: The average conversion rate for search ads is a healthy 6.96%, showcasing the potential of PPC to generate leads and sales.

Evolving PPC Formats: Video and AI Take Center Stage

The way PPC ads are created and delivered is constantly evolving. Let’s explore the growing use of video advertising and the integration of AI-powered features that automate bidding strategies and even ad creation.

Let’s start with the facts.

Here are three statistics from 2024 that highlight the prevalence of video content across different platforms.

• Social Media: As of April 2024, there are an estimated 5.07 billion active global social media users, and every single minute, platforms like YouTube get flooded with 500 hours of fresh video content.⁴
• YouTube: An average of 694,000 hours of video are streamed by YouTube users each and every minute, which is even higher than Netflix, whose users stream 452,000 hours per minute.⁵
• Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs): Google SERP features in 2024 include video results that are often displayed as the top answer to a question query if that form of content is deemed the most effective at giving the user the correct information.⁶

These statistics demonstrate the significant role that video content plays in social media, on YouTube, and in search results, reflecting the growing trend of video consumption and its importance in digital marketing strategies.

Based on the PPC trends in 2024, consider these two additional factors when designing or hiring for PPC campaigns:

• Attention-Grabbing Video Ads: With an average attention span of only 8 seconds, video advertising is on the rise, with a focus on creating engaging content to capture viewers’ interest.⁷
• AI Powering Efficiency: AI is transforming PPC by enabling more sophisticated automated bid strategies and even assisting with ad creation.

Conversion Rates: It’s the Ad or the Landing Page?

Analyzing conversion rates goes beyond just the PPC campaign itself. It’s crucial to understand how well your landing page is functioning.

Here’s how to identify if the ad or the landing page is impacting conversions.

Ad Analysis

Look for metrics like click-through rate (CTR) and ad engagement. Low CTR could indicate irrelevant or poorly targeted ads.

Landing Page Analysis

Monitor bounce rate, time spent on page, and conversion rate on the landing page itself. A high bounce rate or low time spent on page could signal a poorly designed or confusing landing page that isn’t optimized for conversions.

Conversion Rates, Two Examples

Example 1 – Ecommerce Store with Purchase Conversions

Imagine an ad for a summer sale with fantastic discounts. A high CTR suggests the ad is working well.

However, if the landing page showcasing the sale items is cluttered or lacks clear calls to action, you’ll likely see a high bounce rate and low conversion rate, indicating a landing page issue.

Example 2 – Email Lead Generation Landing Page

An ad offering a free downloadable e-book in exchange for email signup might have a great CTR. But if the landing page doesn’t clearly explain the value proposition of the e-book or has a lengthy form, you might see a low conversion rate, pointing to a landing page in need of improvement.

Conversion Rates: Don’t Tell the Whole Story

When looking at PPC campaign success, we want to see conversions!

Without a doubt, that’s the end goal.

But looking at this KPI isn’t going to tell you whether your PPC campaign is effective. If we’ve can conclude one thing from PPC trends in 2024, it’s this:

Conversions are the sole KPI for PPC success – A well-rounded KPI approach will tell you if your campaign is working or not.

While conversion rates are a vital metric for gauging PPC success, they don’t provide the complete picture. Here’s why looking beyond conversion rates can be beneficial.

Engagement Metrics Offer Deeper Insights

Conversion rates tell you how many users convert after clicking your ad, but they don’t reveal how users interacted with the ad itself. Engagement metrics like view-through conversions, video completion rate, and average watch time can provide valuable insights into how well your ad resonates with your target audience.

A High CTR Can Mask Issues

A high CTR might seem like a positive indicator, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your ad is delivering on its initial promise. If users are clicking through but not engaging.

Digging deeper into these topics, is path too far from the topic of this Monthly Insights article, so we’ll save that for our in-depth PPC blog topics.

Thanks for reading this Monthly Insights from Mafost Marketing.

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Sources Accessed 6/7/2024

1. WordStream Google Ads Benchmarks. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2024-google-ads-benchmarks ↩︎
2. PPC.io. https://ppc.io/blog/ppc-platforms ↩︎
3. Competitive data and insights. https://www.wordstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ws-guide-google-ads-benchmarks-2024.pdf ↩︎
4. Social media stats for 2024, https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/social-media-statistics ↩︎
5. YouTube video stats, 2024 from Wyzowl. https://www.wyzowl.com/youtube-stats/ ↩︎
6. Brafton’s visual guide for 2024, https://www.brafton.com/blog/distribution/a-content-marketers-guide-to-every-2018-google-serp-feature/ ↩︎
7. The idea is, a shorter attention span = condense the data delivered per second. Video is the format for this. https://www.gtechme.com/insights/12-ppc-features-that-transform-your-2024-campaigns/ ↩︎