Google’s search and Shopping ads recorded their highest click volumes in five years during the fourth quarter, alongside a 13% rise in advertiser spend and stable average costs per click. The figures point to strong demand for paid search during the peak retail season and a larger supply of click opportunities across commercial queries.
Click growth outpaced pricing pressure, allowing brands to buy more traffic without a corresponding rise in average per-click costs. The pattern reinforces search’s role in capturing high-intent consumer interest at the moment of query, with Shopping formats supporting product discovery as shoppers compared prices, images, and availability in real time.
This development took shape in the fourth quarter, spanning October to December, across Google Search and Shopping ad auctions during the peak holiday trading period.
Holiday demand pushes paid search to new high-water mark
Q4’s retail calendar concentrates consumer demand around major promotions, including Black Friday and the run-up to Christmas. During this period, search volumes typically rise as people look for deals, delivery timelines and in-stock products. The latest figures show search and Shopping ad clicks reached a five-year peak, indicating that users engaged with paid placements at a scale not seen since before the pandemic-era swings in online behaviour.
High click volumes often reflect two combined forces: more queries in commercial categories and broader ad coverage across those queries. Google’s Shopping units and text ads appear against a wide spectrum of purchase-related searches, from brand terms to generic product lookups. The five-year high suggests that, in Q4, Google’s monetised search results drew more user interactions than in recent comparable periods, even as advertisers managed budgets closely around return on ad spend goals.
Budgets up 13% while CPCs remain stable
Advertiser spend rose 13% in the quarter, yet average costs per click stayed level. In paid search, CPC stability means advertisers paid roughly the same price per click despite higher overall investment. When spend grows in step with click volume rather than price, it signals that the market expanded through additional inventory and engagement rather than intensified bidding alone.
This balance matters for performance planning. If CPCs rise sharply, advertisers often face tougher trade-offs between reach and efficiency. With stable CPCs, the cost to acquire each click did not escalate at the same pace as demand. The data indicates that advertisers increased budgets to capture more of the available intent without encountering immediate inflation in auction prices.
Shopping ads support product discovery at point of intent
Shopping ads place images, prices, ratings and merchant names directly in the results page. The format helps shoppers compare options quickly and click through to purchase pages. The surge in Shopping and search clicks in Q4 aligns with the role these units play in peak season, when users search for specific models, gift ideas, or last-minute availability.
Retailers and brands rely on Shopping placements to inform consumers before they visit a site. The aggregated performance picture—more clicks at stable per-click costs—suggests that shoppers engaged with these listings at higher rates during Q4’s promotional windows. While the figures do not break down categories, the lift in Shopping engagement typically skews towards electronics, apparel, home and gifting, which dominate seasonal promotions.
Auctions absorb demand without sharp price pressure
Online ad auctions balance advertiser demand with available impressions and user intent. In periods of heavy commercial activity, CPCs can climb if more bidders chase the same query set. The reported stability in CPCs, even as spend grew 13%, indicates that Google’s auction environment absorbed higher budgets through added click opportunities rather than steep price increases.
In practical terms, more placements, broader query matching and increased user activity can all expand auction supply. When that supply grows in line with advertiser demand, prices do not spike. The five-year high in clicks, paired with steady CPCs, points to a market where inventory scaled alongside seasonal interest, limiting immediate cost inflation during the quarter.
Context within wider digital advertising dynamics
Search remains a core performance channel because it captures declared intent: people signal what they want through keywords. That contrasts with feed-based environments where ads target users based on profiles and behaviours. In Q4, the search environment’s strength in converting high-intent queries into site visits was evident in the elevated click totals and rising spend.
The period also caps a year of shifting media mixes, as advertisers navigated privacy changes, measurement updates and evolving formats across platforms. Within that landscape, a five-year high for Google search and Shopping ad clicks underlines the channel’s continued role as a demand capture engine, particularly during retail peaks when shoppers compare prices and availability across multiple sellers.
Measurement and planning considerations for peak periods
Paid search metrics such as clicks, CPCs and spend offer direct signals of auction dynamics. A surge in clicks alongside steady CPCs can indicate that ad coverage widened or that search interest expanded, or both. In Q4’s case, the growth suggests advertisers found ample inventory to meet higher budgets without seeing immediate price rises.
For organisations, the pattern highlights the importance of aligning campaign budgets with seasonal demand curves. When inventory scales and costs hold, campaigns can absorb more budget efficiently. Conversely, when costs tighten, organisations often re-check pacing and target segments. The latest Q4 view places search in the former scenario, with higher throughput at consistent per-click costs.
What this means
- Advertiser demand in Q4 rose significantly, but auctions provided enough inventory to keep average per-click costs steady.
- Search and Shopping formats drew elevated engagement from users, reflecting strong consumer intent during peak retail weeks.
- Budget planning around high-volume periods interacts with auction supply; when inventory expands, spend can grow without immediate cost inflation.
- The five-year high in clicks signals that search continues to function as a primary channel for capturing purchase-ready traffic at scale during key trading moments.
Bringing it all together, the fourth quarter delivered a notable combination for Google’s paid search ecosystem: the most clicks in five years, a 13% rise in advertiser spend, and CPCs that did not drift higher in the aggregate. The mix points to resilient consumer engagement with commercial queries and a marketplace capable of absorbing increased budgets through added volume rather than price hikes. As brands assess performance from the holiday period, the figures frame search’s role in connecting high-intent users with product listings and offers at the point of decision. The dynamics also set a baseline for how auction supply and seasonal demand can align, shaping how organisations think about scale, efficiency and timing in the quarters ahead.
When and where
Search Engine Land published this analysis on 16 January 2026: https://searchengineland.com/google-search-ad-clicks-hit-five-year-high-as-q4-spend-rises-13-report-467660
