In 2025, Search Advertising continues to consolidate as the most powerful digital advertising format in the world. In the United States alone, this type of advertising attracted 113.15 billion dollars in investment during 2022, far surpassing formats like video, social media, and banners. This is according to data from the latest Statista study.
This segment is expected to attract a global investment of 330 billion dollars, divided among traditional search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo!) and marketplaces like Amazon.
The dominance of this format is no coincidence. Search intent remains one of the strongest indicators of consumer interest, and advertisers know it: being present at the exact moment someone searches for a solution is still pure gold.
🇺🇸 Why does the United States lead in Search investment?
1. Technological maturity
The United States has an advanced digital infrastructure, with high penetration of mobile devices, voice searches, and smart assistants. This increases the number of searches and, therefore, the volume of advertising opportunities.
2. Highly competitive market
With thousands of companies competing for the same spaces, the cost per click (CPC) on Google Ads exceeds $7.66 USD in industries like marketing, legal, health, or fintech. This competition drives up platform revenues and fuels format sophistication.
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3. Performance culture
The U.S. market is deeply results-oriented. Brands value traceability and return on investment (ROI), something that Search Advertising delivers with surgical precision.
🏆 Winning formats in the United States
Here are the most effective and popular search advertising formats in the United States:
🔹 1. Search Text Ads (Google Ads)
- Ideal for performance campaigns: e-commerce, services, SaaS.
- Targeting by intent, location, device, and schedule.
- Easily scalable.
🔹 2. Performance Max
- Automated campaigns that combine search, Discover, display, YouTube, Gmail, and even Maps.
- AI-powered, they optimize budget in real time.
- Increasingly adopted by medium and large brands.
🔹 3. Product Listing Ads (PLAs)
- Used in Google Shopping and marketplaces.
- Show images, prices, and descriptions directly in the results.
- Vital for retail e-commerce, especially during seasons like Black Friday.
🔹 4. Marketplace search (Retail Media)
- Amazon Ads and Walmart Connect are gaining ground as alternatives to traditional search.
- 32% of consumers start product searches on marketplaces vs. only 12% on traditional search engines.
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📚 What can marketers learn?
✅ 1. Intent is everything
Investing in search campaigns means going straight to where the user already has an identified need. It’s the foundation for building more profitable strategies.
✅ 2. Diversify your channels
While Google remains dominant, ignoring Amazon Ads, Mercado Ads or retail media platforms means losing reach at key moments in the purchase journey.
✅ 3. Experiment with Performance Max
This automated format can help you scale without technical complications, especially if you have a large catalog or a brand with multiple touchpoints.
✅ 4. Integrate SEO and SEM
It’s not just about paying to appear: a good search strategy combines organic content with paid campaigns to build presence, authority, and conversion.
✅ 5. Optimize for mobile and voice
With most searches originating from smartphones, and the growth of voice search, ads must adapt to new query formats: more conversational, localized, and fast.
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🧠 Search Advertising is more relevant than ever
What’s happening in the U.S. with Search Advertising doesn’t just set the trend: it sets the immediate future for Hispanic markets. As digitalization grows in Latin America and Spain, strategies based on intent, data, and automation will be key to competing.
The challenge is to adapt lessons from the global north to the local context, keeping in mind that in the digital world, whoever dominates search, dominates conversion.
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🧭 Search Advertising in data according to Statista
Spending by country in 2024:
- USA: 137.78 billion USD
- China: 63.08 billion USD
- United Kingdom: 24.23 billion USD.
Average cost per click (CPC) for marketing (Google Ads):
- USA: $7.66 USD
- Mexico: $0.66 USD
- France: $0.68 USD.
Types of advertising:
- Traditional search engine advertising: 204 billion USD
- Marketplace advertising: 126 billion USD.
