Share of Search represents 83% of a brand's Share of Market

What Is Share of Search?

Share of Search (SoS) is defined by the number of searches for one brand divided by the searches for all brands in the defined in a “competitor set”. This SoS metric can serve a strong proxy of a brand’s Share of Market (SoM).

In an increasingly digital world, a new metric has emerged as a more accurate measurement of consumer and business purchasing intent and demand for products: Share of Search. There is no better way to measure a consumer’s intent to purchase than to measure what they search on the web.

To calculate a brand’s Share of Search, you can take the number of organic searches your brand received during a specific period, and divide it by the number of searches all the brands in your industry received at that time. Several tools will be able to measure this for you, and some even have the capability to track this Share of Search over time to visualize how market share can change over time.

Research has shown that Share of Search is the most accurate measurement of consumer and business purchasing intent and demand. For the first time, businesses can use AI/Machine Learning and big data to track consumer interest in buying their products and their competitors’ products and why. Want to know your competitors’ market share or your own?

According to research published in autumn of 2021 by the UK’s Institute of Practising Advertisers (IPA), Share of Search represent 83% of a brand’s SoM, on average. That’s based on over 30 case studies in 12 market categories across seven countries.

Search Data = Proxy for demand 

How can search data be used to understand the customer’s demand for your brand? According to the IPA’s research, Branded Search metrics have been proven to have a direct correlation with sales, with an average correlation of 69%.

This means that if a search increases by 100%, the sales for that brand or topic increases by 69%. The remaining difference can be explained by influencing factors such as price or supply issues.

It is important to understand that SoS reflects the correlation with SoM. Search itself so does not drive the sales.

The IPA’s findings also provide insight for smaller brands who want to leverage SoS as well as for companies that sell more than one product or service.

Core findings from the IPA SoS Think Tank 2021:

• Across a range of categories, countries and languages SoS appears to represent 83% of a brand’s SoM on average

  This indicates Share of Search is a strong proxy for the this reinforces the insight that SoS is a strong proxy for the consumer demand side of Share of Market.

• Share of Search correlates with Share of Market across category, country and languages

  This upholds Les Binet’s 2020 finding, but the ratio between SoS and SoM varies by category and country.

• Changes in Share of Search affects changes in SoM

  It is dynamic; when one changes the other changes.

• Spend (Share of Voice & Excess Share of Voice) is related to Share of Search

  When a brand spends more than its market share and increases its share of voice, its share of search also increases. However, ultimately, analysis is required to understand category and brand dynamics.

• Broadcast/mass-reach media appear to have a greater impact on Share of Search

  More so than focussed targeted strategies.

• Going dark (ie terminating communication) seems to result in a consistent pattern of decline related to purchase frequency half-lives