ChatGPT Adoption Increases Usage of Google Search

New Semrush research finds that adoption of ChatGPT by users rather than taking search share from Google instead expands both the overall number of search sessions and the number of Google search sessions.

Semrush compared 160 billion rows of US desktop clickstream data for 2 user groups between January 2024 and June 2025 to see how users' behavior changed after their first interaction with ChatGPT:

Study Group: US users who first used ChatGPT in 1Q2025 with no prior ChatGPT use

Control Group: Users who did not use ChatGPT at any time in 2024 or 2025

As you can see in the table above, while mean ChatGPT sessions per week rose from 0 to 5, mean Google search sessions increased also, by 20% from 10.5 to 12.6.

Trends in the same direction were found consistently among users who first adopted ChatGPT in January, February or March 2025. And Google search use by the control group remained stable throughout January, February and March.

Conclusions drawn by Semrush analysts are:

• ChatGPT is not replacing traditional search, but instead is expanding the ways in which people seek information.
• Users accept both ChatGPT and Google, and likely switch between them.
• Online exploration is expanding overall as new ways of reaching people with information are added.

Recommendations for marketers from Semrush:

• Keep investing in SEO because Google still works.
• Add AI SEO to your strategies, to complement traditional SEO.
• Monitor your market's channel mix periodically, because different audiences adopt AI search at different rates,

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Want to know more? Go here for an in-depth discussion of SEO.

Traditional and Social Media Expected to See Greatest Tariff-Related Ad Spend Cuts

Advertising and consumer spending drive much of the US economy. But in the current century to date, two significant rounds of tariffs in 2002-2003 and 2018-2020 resulted in higher consumer prices and reduced ad spend.

A new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) finds that 94% of advertisers expect new tariffs to lead to reduced ad spending in 2025, and projects that spend in traditional and social media will see the largest cuts.

Ad spends on CTV, audio, paid search, podcasts and online video are projected to be least affected.

57% of ad execs surveyed said they are "extremely concerned" (57%) or "somewhat concerned" (37%) about tariffs having an adverse impact on ad spend in 2025.

Expected magnitude of ad spend reduction which is expected to peak in mid-2025:

• 6% - 10% (cited by 60% of respondents)
• 11% - 20% (22%)

Adjustments advertisers said they plan to employ in 2025 to address financial constraints imposed by new tariffs include:

• Reducing overall ad spend (45%)
• Increased focus on performance-based campaigns (35%)
• Shift to more measurable digital channels (29%)
• Adjust campaign messaging (28%)
• Negotiate for more flexibility (21%)

Separately, AdAge reports that US ad employment fell by 900 jobs in April - the fifth consecutive month of ad job losses. But there's increasing demand in digital marketing roles.

Paid search dominated online advertising in 2024

New research published by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reveals that digital advertising spend in aggregate grew by a record 15% in 2024 to $159B.

Broken down by medium:

• Search $102.9B
• Display $74.3B
• Video $62.1B
• Audio $7.6B
• Other $11.7B

All media categories saw growth of spend in 2024.

Digital video was the fastest-growing format in 2024.

IAB analysts attribute this growth in part to AI enabling platforms to make advances in adaptive decisionmaking, creative generation and commerce integration - but that "data security, interoperability and integration challenges remain."

They also found that:

• Ad-supported streaming of live sports is driving "premium ad investment".
• Most brands are now integrating creator marketing into their media mix.
• Integration of AI, commerce, data and content is powering a surge of retail media networks and other commerce media.
• The US Presidential election and the 2024 Olympics helped fuel advertising growth.
• Social media advertising growth picked up after a slower 2023.
• Companies #11 through #25 - primarily mid-sized publishers, retail media networks and emerging digital platforms - saw strongest revenue growth in 2024.

Key trends IAB identified for 2025:

• AI-driven advertising will continue to reshape the entire media business model.
• Brands will increasingly turn to privacy-first strategies using first-party data, contextual advertising and collaboration tools like data clean rooms.
• Use of streaming, CTV and "Skinny Bundles" - small, cheap streaming packages - will increase to satisfy consumer demand.
• The creator economy will see a shift to long-term partnerships and multi-platform expansion.
• Reinvention of the digital advertising business model will continue, reshaped by consumer expectations.

When Google Search and PMax search terms overlap, Search converts better 84% of the time

New report by UK-based PPC tool provider Adalysis shows results of comparison of performance of Google Search campaigns vs. PMax campaigns when search terms overlap.

Key findings:

• At the campaign level, 67% of PMax campaigns overlapped with Search campaigns on one or more keywords.
• Search terms trigger both Search and PMax ads 45% of the time, on average.
• For campaigns with overlapping search terms, PMax produced more impressions 61% of the time.
• For overlapping search terms, Search achieved higher CTRs 65% of the time.
• Search campaigns had higher conversion rates for overlapping search terms 84.18% of the time, and higher conversion values 84.62% of the time.

Recommendations from Adalysis:

• If running PMax campaigns for lead generation, make sure your top search terms are showing Search ads, to get higher CTRs, conversion rates and conversion values.
• Optimizing the visibility of your Search campaigns can lead to higher ROAS.
• Add exact match keywords - including top PMax search terms - to Search campaigns where relevant.
• Optimize ad copy and landing pages of Search ad groups to increase CTRs and conversions.
• Ignore Google recommendation to "remove redundant keywords" from Search campaigns when adding search terms as keywords, to avoid their defaulting to PMax.

Comment: One more piece of evidence in support of staying on top of your search terms and using exact match Search keywords.

Go here for much more in depth on SEO.

3Q2024 Google CTR data reveal changes in search behavior

New report from Advanced Web Ranking shows how Google CTRs worldwide in 3Q2024 differed from those of 2Q2024 by industry and query type.

Highlights:

• For mobile searches containing specific brand or business names, the pages ranked first had a 1.07 percentage point increase in CTR in 3Q2024.
• Pages that ranked first for informational queries had 1.63 percentage point growth on mobile, while on desktop, pages ranked 2nd had a 1.10 percentage point drop in CTR.
• For commercial queries, pages that ranked #1 saw a decline in CTR of 3.51 percentage points on mobile and 2.55 percentage points on desktop.
• Queries containing 1, 2 and 3 words all had increased CTRs on mobile, but on desktop CTRs were flat vs. 2Q2024.

Search Demand Change by Industry - 3Q2024 vs. 2Q2024

• Careers +34.65%
• Science +33.78%
• Law, Government, Poliitics +32.74%
• Pets +21.52%
• Shopping +21.09%
• Society +14.19%
• Business +12.57%
• Health & Fitness +12.19%
• Automotive +11.24%
• Education +7.00%
• Sports +0.10%
• Home & Garden -1.40%
• Arts & Entertainment -1.54%
• Style & Fashion -2.47%
• Real Estate -4.79%
• Personal Finance -9.92% (But CTR on mobile grew by 5.47 percentage points.)
• Family & Parenting -11.88%

Comment: It would have been helpful to factor CPC into this analysis.