Paid search spend on smartphones is up 113 per cent year-over-year in the US, according to research by IgnitionOne – a growth spend that seems to come from cannibalising desktop budgets.

Growth in spend actually far exceeded growth in impressions (27 per cent) and clicks (25 per cent) on smartphones. Initially, that might seem like a bad sign, but it could actually suggest that marketing spend on mobile is finally starting to catch up to the reality of usage. 

Growth on tablets was much more similar across the board, with a 112 per cent growth in spend actually overtaken by the growth in impressions (129 per cent), and growth in clicks (79 per cent) much closer than on smartphones.

The devices came out better than smartphones across the board – with tablet users spending 17 per cent more time on sites than PC, compared to four per cent more on mobile, and the Engagement Score given by IgnitionOnes technology was nine per cent higher than PC on tablets, as opposed to 14 per cent less on smartphones. 

That performance seems to be reflected in the spend – 64 per cent of mobile search spend was allocated to tablets, compared to 26 per cent to smartphones.

“Not only are users engaging with more ads on mobile devices, they are also spending more time on marketers’ websites when they do” said IgnitionOne president Roger Barnette. “This creates both opportunities and challenges as marketers adjust to the changing landscape.”