Search ad spend worldwide 2018-2028

In 2022, search advertising spending amounted to 185.35 billion U.S. dollars worldwide. The expenditure was forecast to increase by approximately six percent annually until 2028, reaching close to 261 billion U.S. dollars.

Search Advertising

Search advertising, or search engine advertising (SEA), refers to the placement of ads on search result pages above or next to organic search results. As these ads target local and keyword-related factors, they have a higher conversion probability, making them a popular tool for online marketers. In the past few years, search advertising has become one of the leading forms of digital advertising worldwide, seeing annual growth in spending. In 2019, global search ad spend stood at nearly 106.5 billion U.S. dollars, trailing only behind display ad expenditures. As consumers are increasingly using their phones for search requests, spending on mobile search advertising is set to increase in the following years.

Leading segment drivers

The United States is the world’s leading market for search advertising, as well as the segment’s top spender. In 2019, over 55 billion U.S. dollars were spent on search advertising, and according to the latest forecasts, spending will surpass 86 billion U.S. dollars by 2023. In return, revenue from search ads is expected to grow by roughly ten percent in 2020. Looking at the placement of ads and the allocation of search advertising budgets, Google stands out as the primary recipient. In 2018, advertisers reported allocating around 60 percent of their search advertising budgets towards the U.S. tech giant.