Study: Mobile search, Facebook engagement surge

San Jose, Calif.—Paid search in the U.S. continued to grow in the third quarter, largely due to increased mobile traffic, according to a report from Adobe Systems. The study also found that Facebook experienced strong engagement and fan growth.

According to Adobe's quarterly Digital Index report, U.S. search spending grew 11% in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2011, while ROI improved 26%. Adobe forecast that through the first quarter of 2013, one in five paid-search clicks will originate from a tablet or smartphone.

Facebook brand engagement, defined as “likes,” comments or shares, grew 896% year over year in the third quarter, according to the study. Mobile users account for nearly one-quarter of all Facebook engagement.

Adobe's study was based on an analysis of information from more than 5,000 companies that use Adobe marketing technologies to obtain data and analyze activity on their websites.