adMarketplace Platform Data: Q1 2025 Advertiser Trends & Insights

The first quarter of 2025 revealed some surprising industry vertical trends, and notable shifts in consumer behavior when it comes to how they search and shop online. Staying ahead of these trends could be the difference between wasted ad spend and effective search campaigns that deliver performance and efficiency. Below are some of the highlights from adMarketplace’s Q1 2025 platform data. 

adMarketplace Native Search Ads Are Clicking for Consumers

Our latest platform data reveals a continued uptick in native search ad engagement. Globally, total clicks on AMP native search media climbed 8% YoY while spend increased 1%. This indicates improved ad campaign efficiency for brands using our exclusive media. 

In particular, AMP Find media saw a 15% increase in both clicks and spend, signaling how successful brands can be when they capture and shape consumer intent at the earliest stage of the search journey before consumers ever hit the legacy search engine results page.

Shopping Browsers vs. Browser Extensions

Consumers are saying out with browsers extensions and in with shopping browsers when it comes to the channels they’re using in their search journey. Shopping browsers saw a 26% increase in clicks and a 25% increase in spend. Conversely, browser extensions saw a notable 75% drop in clicks and spend plummeted by 81%. 

This fundamental shift in the consumer search journey is one advertisers should pay particularly close attention to as they plan and adapt their search campaigns for the rest of the year. It’s a clear indicator that consumers at large are gravitating toward shopping browsers as a more valuable channel in their journey, presenting a ripe opportunity for brands to engage and convert consumers there.

Vertical Trends: A Harbinger of a Struggling Economy

The clear winners of the first quarter of 2025 were eCommerce Marketplace, Beauty Retail, and Branded Apparel Retail verticals, which all saw click and spend increases. Less successful were Consumer Electronics, Automotive, and Travel verticals.

There are a couple of inferences we can make from this data. For starters, it’s clear that many consumers steered away from higher-end purchases in Q1. This could be due to a seasonal shift from the spending blitz of the Q4 2024 holiday shopping season. It could also indicate growing wariness of the economic climate and dwindling consumer confidence as massive global tariffs were announced during this timeframe. 

That last point could also explain why the Retail and eCommerce verticals saw increases, as consumers opted to buy now to avoid the impending price increases these tariffs will usher in. The growth in the Beauty Retail vertical actually implies that an economic downturn is on the horizon based on what’s known as the “lipstick index,” a theory that suggests lipstick sales are an indicator of economic decline. The idea here is that when consumers have less disposable income, they still may purchase what they view as more “affordable” luxuries like lipstick to feel good while cutting back on larger purchases. 

Many advertisers feel the pull to cut back on marketing and advertising spend during economic downturns, but the lipstick index is yet another indicator that continued media investment during economic uncertainty can actually pay dividends in the long-run. 

Seasonal Spikes & Events-driven Shopping Moments

Seasonal moments, holidays, and events remain key drivers for consumer spend and higher levels of advertiser activity that capitalize on consumer purchasing intent. Throughout Q1 2025, these were the moments where brands who upped their search media investment most likely came out on top:

• Super Bowl Weekend: Clicks rose 9%, spend increased 6%
• Valentine’s Day: Clicks rose 6%, spend increased 3% (powered by the Beauty Retail vertical, which saw a 30% increase in clicks and a 20% increase in spend during this holiday)
• Tax Season: Clicks rose 9%, spend increased 6%

adMarketplace Platform Data Infographic

For all you skimmers or visual learners out there, we’ve consolidated all of the most prominent insights and data points from our Q1 2025 platform data into a handy infographic which you can access for free below. Check back with us soon when we’ll have more valuable advertiser insights to share as Q2 2025 wraps up.

‍