10% of Search Ad Clicks From Mobile

Ten percent of online search ads were served to mobile devices in March, and those devices accounted for 9.8 percent of ad clicks over the same period, according to data from Performics.

The Publicis-owned search agency aggregated its clients’ data for the first three months of 2011, and estimated that mobile search impressions grew by 195 percent on a year-over-year basis to reach 9.6 percent of all search ads in Q1 2011.

Growth in clicks on mobile ads outpaced that of impressions, increasing 230 percent over the same period. Meanwhile clicks from desktops grew more modestly, by 13.7 percent year-over-year.

Increases in both ad impressions and clicks via mobile devices reflects their continued proliferation throughout the U.S., as well as increasing marketer investment in the channel. As users’ search behavior migrates from the desktop, so too are search advertisers, the data suggests.