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Most Google earnings report show how the cost-per-click, the amount an advertiser pays when someone clicks on their search ads, have been getting less expensive. But most of those earnings have shown growth in terms in the number of clicks ads in general are getting. Well, not this past earnings report, which showed a 9-percent decrease in paid clicks from Q4 to Q1.
Paid clicks on Google properties dropped 9 percent from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019 (QoQ) but increased 39% from Q1 2018 to Q1 2019 (YoY). Cost-per-click on Google properties increased 5% from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019 (QoQ) but decreased 19% from Q1 2018 to Q1 2019 (YoY). Here is that chart:
With that, and other disappointments such as the sale of Pixel devices, Google is down almost 8% in pre-market trading.
Greg Sterling wrote on Search Engine Land "Paid clicks increased 39 percent year-over-year but decreased 9 percent sequentially. Cost-per-click was down 19 percent compared to last year – but up 5 percent since Q4 2018. Traffic acquisition costs (TAC) came in at $6.86 billion (22 percent of ad revenue), while analysts expected TAC of $7.26 billion. While paid clicks were up YoY, growth of paid clicks has declined vs. earlier quarters. This was attributed substantially to the deceleration of growth in YouTube ad clicks. Google hinted that smart display and smart speaker Home Hub and Google Home Mini were performing well and teased an announcement in this category at the forthcoming Google I/O."
Is this a concern for Google? I don't know, let's see if the next earning report keeps this trend going?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
