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Mobile Could Top 22 Percent of Total Search Spend Next Year

A recent report released by Efficient Frontier (EFF) and Macquarie Capital predicts that paid search from mobile devices (including tablets) will comprise between 16-22%of total ad spend in 2012.
EMarketer also projects that 2012 search ad revenues in the US will reach approximately $17 billion. Given EFF’s projections, this means mobile spending will be $2.7 to $3.7 billion. Tablets account for half of clicks within mobile search, and nearly half of the revenue, while delivering 3 times more conversions.
Google is reaping most of the rewards from the rise in mobile search. According to the EFF study, Google receives roughly 96%of mobile search ad expenditures, while Yahoo/Bing combine for nearly all of the remaining 4%.
EFF’s report also compared average search query lengths of different platforms including: desktops, mobile handsets, and tablets. Desktop searchers tend to use the longest queries, followed by tablets, and then mobile handsets. However, as voice search becomes more popular, it will be interesting to see the changes in mobile search queries.