Google’s September update, intended to reduce the queries included in Google Ads search terms reports, limits advertiser visibility into the specific queries that drive ad traffic.

The company cited privacy concerns as its reasoning, stating that only terms with a “significant number of users searched for” would be included in reporting, according to a recent benchmark report from Tinuiti. 

Data from the Tinuiti Q3 Google Ads Benchmark Report is based on anonymized performance data from Google programs managed by the agency on behalf of its clients. The shifts in Google advertisers are analyzed in this report. It also explores the fallout from Google’s September search terms update.

The findings suggest Google’s decision forced a significant drop in the share of spend attributed to search queries across ad formats and device types from August to September, among its clients.

For example, Google U.S. text ads spend share attributed to search queries for desktop came in at 98% in August, compared with 74% in September. For phones those numbers were 96% in August vs. 75% in September, respectively.

Aside from Shopping ads on desktop, which unexplainably had only 77% of spend attributed to search queries in August, all other device-ad format combinations saw at least 94% of spend reported in search terms reports in August.

By September, no device-ad format combination saw more than 76% of spend attributed in search terms reports. Shopping campaigns saw lower spend share attributed to search queries in September than text ads across device types, according to the data.

Overall, advertisers increased the amount they spent on Google search ads by 28% YoY in the third quarter, up from 19% growth in the second quarter.

The findings suggest many advertisers saw a big boost in performance following the end of the quarter coinciding with Prime Day, when sales attributed to Google Shopping ads grew 109% on desktop, year-over-year (YoY).

In Q3, the data shows there were more than six-times as many search advertisers deploying Amazon Attribution as in the first quarter of 2019. Amazon was the biggest Google Ads buyer to increase spend in Q3, which returned to both Google Shopping and text ads in early June

Similar Audiences have quickly grown in importance for search advertisers, and in the third quarter 2020 these audiences accounted for 17% of phone clicks, compared to just 11% last Q3.

Some 12% of Smart Shopping campaign spend was attributed to the Google Display Network in Q3 2020

The share of total Google paid search clicks attributed to mobile phones came in at 69% in Q3 2020, with desktop accounting for 28% of clicks and the remaining 4% coming from tablets. Tablets have been in steady decline in terms of paid search click share over the last year. Desktop accounted for only 28% of clicks, but accounted for 40% of spend, as average cost per click is higher for desktop than phones.

The cost per click on Google declined a mere 1% in the third quarter in 2020, as more advertisers returned to advertising on Google. The average CPC declined 17% year over year (YoY) when major advertisers like Amazon pulled out of auctions earlier this year.

Click growth slowed from 42% in Q2 to 30% in Q3, but was still significantly higher than any other quarter during the past two years as ecommerce continues to see expanded demand during the pandemic, according to the data.

CPCs on mobile phones also fell 1% in the quarter. Fewer than 10% of advertisers studied had an overall phone CPC greater than desktop in Q3 2020.

Interesting, Customer Match audience accounted for 3% of paid search clicks, allowing advertisers to create targetable audiences using lists of email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses of customers that provided this information to the advertiser.

These audiences tend to contain customers that are familiar with the brand advertising and who are more likely to convert than other searchers, and brands can get the most out of them by optimizing ad copy, landing pages, and website experience based on prior knowledge of the customer.