80 PPC Stats You Need to Know for 2021

If you want people to know about your products and services, you advertise online. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the top strategies businesses use to reach qualified leads interested in their products and services. If you want to stay competitive in the online advertising market, you’ll need to stay informed on the major PPC statistics for 2021.

Read on to discover 80 impactful PPC stats and subscribe to our newsletter, Revenue Weekly, to stay connected on the latest PPC trends!

Learn more: How Long Does it Take PPC to Work?

General PPC Stats

Let’s take a look at some general 2021 PPC statistics you need to know before diving into this strategy.

$106.5 billion is the amount companies spent on search advertising globally in 2019. (Source)
$9000 to $10,000 per month is the amount the average PPC campaign costs for small to mid-sized companies. (Source)
$2 for every $1 spent is how much businesses make on PPC. (Source)
80% of marketers now allocate at least some ad budget to search, social, display, and remarketing ads. (Source)
72% of companies haven’t looked at their ad campaigns in over a month. (Source)
65% of small to mid-sized businesses have a PPC campaign. (Source)
47% of the total global purchases are completed online. (Source)
39% is how much paid search accounted for in advertisers’ budgets. (Source)
32% of companies use PPC to sell products directly to consumers. (Source)

Search PPC Stats

Many PPC ads appear in search results, so let’s take a look at how these PPC stats for 2021 showcase the relationship between search and paid ads.

$132 billion is how much search advertising spending is projected to grow worldwide by 2022. (Source)
$46 million is how much search ad spending accounts for in the U.S. in 2020. (Source)
$6.75 is the highest average CPC for Google Ads, belonging to the legal industry. (Source)
$1.16 is the lowest average CPC for search on Google Ads, belonging to ecommerce. (Source)
90% of advertisers say text ads are the most important PPC channel. (Source)
85% of US internet users, or 242 million people, executed searches monthly in 2019. (Source)
80% is about how much search ads can increase brand awareness. (Source)
65% of all high-intent searches result in an ad click. (Source)
45% of all online advertising revenue in the U.S. in 2018 amounted to search. (Source)
45% of page clicks are earned by Ads that appear in search results. (Source)
42% of all digital marketing spending is search marketing. (Source)
46% of all clicks go to the top three pay-per-click (PPC) ads. (Source)

Display PPC Stats

PPC is more than advertising in search results. These PPC statistics highlight another common PPC format, display ads, and how these ads impact businesses.

$161 billion is the amount display advertising accounted for in 2019, making it the largest ad spend share. (Source)
$68 billion or more is what US advertisers are projected to invest in programmatic digital display advertising this year. (Source)
$0.44 is the lowest average CPC for Google’s Display Network, belonging to travel and hospitality ads. (Source)
$1.49 is the highest average CPC for Google’s Display Network, belonging to dating and personals. (Source)
85% of total digital display ad spending in 2020 is projected to be programmatic advertising. (Source)
50% of programmatic display ad spending went to banners, video, and other display ad units across social networks in 2019. (Source)
16% of advertisers’ budgets is display advertising. (Source)

Shopping PPC Stats

Many companies use paid ads to advertise their products. Check out these PPC stats that focus on shopping ads!

65% of advertisers say their company’s use of shoppable images within search will increase in 2019. (Source)
60% of shopping queries on Google Search are users looking for inspiration when narrowing from a broad category to a specific product. (Source)
42% of shoppers say they expect a retailer to have up-to-date information on how they interact with it across all channels, including in-store, online, and social media. (Source)
41% of shoppers say they were comfortable with a retailer monitoring their shopping patterns and purchases in order to personalize offers. (Source)
39% increase in budget spending was seen for shopping as a PPC channel in the 2017-2018 period. (Source)
24% was the increase in shipping discounts in 2018. (Source)
16% of people will finish shopping just before Christmas. (Source)
16% of all searches for bottoms (trousers, shorts, skirts, etc.) reference a gender-related term like “women’s shorts.” (Source)
12% of all searches for bottoms (trousers, shorts, skirts, etc.) reference a color, black being the most popular. (Source)

Google PPC Stats

Google is the most common place to run PPC ads. Look at these PPC stats for 2021 that give you insight into advertising on Google!

Google Ads is currently the biggest provider of search advertising on the market. (Source)
$116.3 billion is what Google’s ad revenue amounted in 2018. (Source)
$8 for every $1.60 spent is what businesses earn on average with Google Ads. (Source)
$1.16 is Google’s average CPC. (Source)
98% of advertisers rate Google as most trustworthy with a 4 or 5 out of 5 on the trust index. (Source)
84% of advertisers who use paid search are currently using or planning to use Google’s new responsive search ads. (Source)
80% of all companies focus on Google Ads for PPC. (Source)
73% of the total ad spending is Google’s U.S. ad search revenue share. (Source)
62% of all core search queries in the United States are generated by Google. (Source)

Amazon PPC Stats

If you have products you’re selling on Amazon, check out these PPC statistics to get insight on advertising on Amazon!

Amazon is the third most popular advertising platform. (Source)
Sponsored product ads have the highest sales-per-click. (Source)
Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands clicks convert at more than three times the rate of Google Shopping ad clicks. (Source)
$10 billion is what Amazon earned in net U.S. digital ad revenues in 2019. (Source)
$7.09 billion is the net ad spending share on Amazon for search ads in the U.S. (Source)
$2.76 billion is the net ad spending share on Amazon for display ads is in the U.S. (Source)
$0.77 is Amazon’s average CPC. (Source)
165% more on Amazon Sponsored Product ads was spent by marketers during Q2 of 2018. (Source)
85% of ad spending on Amazon is for sponsored products. (Source)
12% of the total ad spending is Amazon’s U.S. ad search revenue share. (Source)

Social media PPC Stats

Social media platforms are a great place to reach new leads. Check out these PPC statistics that provide insight on advertising through social media!

$21 billion was Facebook’s ad revenue in the US in 2018. (Source)
$1 million is Pinterest’s expected ad revenue in the U.S. in 2020. (Source)
72% increase in PPC budget spend was seen for social media in the 2017-2018 period. (Source)
64% of Pinterest users described the platform as a place to find ideas, products or services they can trust. (Source)
65% of B2B companies have acquired customers through LinkedIn ads. (Source)
48% of U.S. user’s social media users use Pinterest for finding and shopping for products. (Source)
37% of online users mark social networks as most influential when finding inspiration for purchases. (Source)
37% of Instagram users answered that the content of sponsored ads matches their interests most of the time. (Source)
32% of advertisers say that video is the most effective social ad format, followed by image ads at 26%, Instagram Stories at 23%, and carousel ads at 19%. (Source)
28% of Instagram users follow the “More” link to gain more information about the advertisement on 10% of ads they see. (Source)
25% of users who have hidden Instagram ads said that they hide the ad because they are annoyed by sponsored ads. (Source)
24% of Instagram users aged 16 and up liked to view video ads the most. (Source)
18% of advertisers’ budgets are paid social. (Source)
9% of Instagram users stated that they had never clicked to hide an ad. (Source)
Only 4% of social marketers in the U.S. are using TikTok. (Source)

Mobile PPC stats

As mobile becomes more popular, you must adapt your paid advertising strategy to reach mobile users. Check out these PPC stats that focus on advertising on mobile!

Mobile search ads had historically lower prices compared with desktop ads in Q2 of 2019. (Source)
$935 billion is what mobile apps are projected to generate in revenues for 2023 via paid downloads and in-app advertising. (Source)
$146 billion is how much mobile advertising spend will reach by 2023. (Source)
95% of paid search ad clicks on mobile is driven by Google. (Source)
90% of mobile owners conduct mobile searches. (Source)
70% of U.S. search ad impressions are on mobile devices. (Source)
65% of people use mobile in their “I-want-to-buy” moments. (Source)
52% of PPC clicks come from mobile. (Source)
51% of mobile users aged 18 to 24 in 2017 thought it was okay to be shown mobile ads as long as the content is free. (Source)
50% of ad spending for mobile in Q2 2019. (Source)

User behavior PPC stats

Are you curious to know how customers interact with your ads? Check out these PPC statistics to get insight into how users engage with PPC ads!

$162.03 is the average ad spending of an internet user in the U.S. in 2020, up 10% from last year (Source).
80% of consumers want ads customized to city, zip code, and surroundings. (Source)
75% of people say paid ads make it easier to find what they need. (Source)
70% of consumers say it’s important to include directions and a call button in ads. (Source)
60% of people can’t identify ads in search engine results pages. (Source)
51% of Generation Z use ad blockers. (Source)
50% of users can’t tell the difference between paid results and organic results. (Source)
50% is how much more likely PPC visitors are to buy than organic visitors. (Source)

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