Paid search spending increased 33 percent in Q3 compared to the same time period last year, according to a recent study by Covario.

The firm’s Global Paid Search Spend Analysis showed that spending on pay-per-click advertising (PPC) by its enterprise technology, consumer electronics and retail clients increased 6 percent from Q2 of 2012.

The recent quarter also showed higher PPC spending in the Americas. But there was “subdued” advertising spending in much of Europe. There were better results in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Scandinavian countries than in other parts of Europe now facing economic pressures, according to Covario’s Alex Funk.

In addition, the Asia-Pacific region saw double-digit search spending growth and is “where major opportunities for paid search exist,” Funk said in a statement carried on TechZone360. But there may be signs of a slowdown in China.

Keyword pricing increased worldwide for the second consecutive quarter as well, the report said.

“Across all of the search engines, the combination of a 4-percent increase in click-through rates and a 12-percent increase in CPCs suggest that keyword pricing in conjunction with higher performing ad formats – and not volume – has largely been responsible for the sequential growth,” Funk explained in a company statement.

Google has 87 percent of the paid search spend market share worldwide, the study said.  

Advertiser increases in search spending with Google were up 34 percent in Q3 from 2011 and were 8 percent more than Q2 of 2012.  

The Yahoo-Bing Network saw 10 percent of global search spend market share. It had spending on its platform going up 25 percent compared to last year and 5 percent more than Q2 of 2012. 

Also, China’s Baidu saw media spend increase by 55 percent compared to last year. But the company saw a 20-percent search spend decrease from Q2 of 2012. Baidu accounted for about 5 percent of global PPC spending and “an incredible” 26 percent of the world’s clicks, Funk added.

When it comes to mobile devices, global spending on paid search advertising grew by 17 percent in Q3 when compared to Q2 of 2012 and by 90 percent compared to last year’s third quarter.

In other recent news, Covario was named in Software Magazine's 30th annual "Software 500" ranking of the world's largest software companies, TechZone360 said.