With technology constantly improving, the devices people use to gain access to the internet is always changing. Ten years ago, the 
only way to access the internet would be through a dial-up modem connected to a PC. However, nowadays, just about every device can connect to the internet in one way or another: Wifi compatibility is a must-have for most devices. For this reason, are the devices that view PPC adverts changing? Pay per click advertising, since it started, has been dominated with supplying PPC adverts to websites that are viewed by computers. However, like all things involved with technology, this will be slowly changing…
The main way to find out how the type of people viewing PPC adverts is changing is through looking at the traffic of a website that has PPC adverts on there. Luckily, my website AskWillOnline.com uses PPC adverts above and below the fold and so is the perfect website to look at. What I found was quite interesting:
- 88% of all traffic comes from a computer/laptop that runs Windows or Macintosh OS (78% Windows, 10% Macintosh).
- 3% comes from devices running Linux.
- 1% comes from iPhones.
- 1% comes from iPads.
- 1% comes from Android tablets and smartphones.
- The remaining 6% comes from all other devices such as iPods, Nokias and Blackberry.
What I found most revealing from the traffic of a pay per click running website was that all the traffic comes from either three types of devices: computers, tablets or smartphones. PPC programs such as Google AdWords and Adsense has recognised this since they have adverts designed for computers, tablets and smartphones.
However, since portability has been a key element to making devices smaller and thinner, it is intriguing to say the least that 88% of all traffic still comes from computers and laptops. From this, not much has changed, traffic-wise, in the last ten years. Computers and laptops still dominate the majority of internet surfers.
Putting that aside, this doesn’t mean things are going to stay the same. 12% of the traffic comes from some type of extremely portable device. For this reason, I can see PPC moving towards mobility. Mobile ads will become more popular over the next few years until there is a time when mobile PPC will be considered more popular than the ‘old-fashion’ style PPC of adverts on a non-portable PC.
The way web users are viewing the internet should not change the way you use PPC though. Remember that PPC is all about trying to find the right web user and making them click onto your landing page to gain a conversion. It is clear that people that access the internet through mobile devices will differ to people sitting at home on the internet on their computers. Their habits will be different and the things they will search for will be different. You may find someone using the internet on their iPhone will be more likely to buy a portable speaker than someone at home on their computer.
This makes clear that it is important to know what type of devices web users are viewing your PPC advert from. If you gain the wrong web user to your landing page, you will produce a low conversion rate – for example, a iPhone/iPad user clicking onto a flash based landing page. Making sure you know how your PPC traffic is viewing your landing page is important to the success of your campaign.
