Bloggers vs Search Engines: 5 Studies on Advertising Effectiveness and Influencer Marketing

Search engines are trusted by 77% of online users — nearly 2.5 times more than AI assistants (31%), according to a YouGov study. Over the past 30 days, 85% of British users turned to traditional search engines, while only 33% of respondents used social media to search for information. Five studies explain how brands are losing money on media buying and why blogger advertising requires new performance metrics.

Gen Z chooses influencers over search engines

Among users who have abandoned traditional search engines, a clear age gap emerges. 49% of Gen Z users search for information through social media, 45% — on video platforms, 37% — on online forums. Millennials lead in AI assistant usage — 42% versus the average of 31%. At the same time, 71% of AI assistant users note that they have started using them more frequently than a year ago, and 46% plan to increase usage frequency in the coming year.

For brands, this means reviewing their media plan: younger audiences seek recommendations not in search ad blocks, but from influencers on social media and video content.

Half of marketers fail to keep up with trends and lose reach

56% of marketers admitted they missed important events — like the World Cup — because they couldn't quickly launch a campaign within their organization. 57% face organizational barriers that prevent them from responding to trends and live events in real time, according to an Optimizely study. The problem is that 54% of consumers are more actively engaged with brands that publish relevant content during cultural moments.

Speed is not the only audience requirement. 43% expect content tailored to their interests, 33% — personalized offers, and 28% want materials to look thoughtful rather than rushed. Balancing relevance with responsiveness becomes critical when working with influencers: creators produce content faster than brand internal teams, but require clear briefs and a solid understanding of KPIs.

Marketers cannot separate sales from brand impact

79% of marketers cannot distinguish between short-term sales and long-term brand perception impact — only 4% of marketing leaders are confident in their measurement methods. A WFA and Ebiquity study found that two-thirds of brands lag in measurement maturity. Automation makes the situation worse: decision-making cycles are shrinking faster than analytics evolve, and 54% of executives receive insights too late for action.

Only 15% of marketing leaders use performance data when allocating budgets — the rest rely on intuition and past experience.

53% of specialists name AI and automation as near-term priorities, but 67% rate their own automation maturity at a minimum level. While 80% of advertisers claim to use media mix modeling (MMM) and brand lift studies, only 15% of leaders base budget decisions on performance metrics.

A third of Britons use AI for shopping, but don't trust autonomous purchases

More than a third of British residents (among millennials and Gen Z — over half) use AI tools for shopping: 40% use them to find better products, compare brands, and find cheaper alternatives. Yet nearly two-thirds of consumers are not ready to let artificial intelligence make purchases autonomously, according to Dentsu's Consumer Navigator report.

Two-thirds of Britons discover new products through social media, but for all other shopping aspects — personalization, product information, convenience, pricing — traditional retailer websites score higher than social networks. This signals to brands: influencers are effective at the product discovery stage, but conversion requires a quality landing page and refined user experience.

Consideration is the most challenging metric in the sales funnel

Consideration has become the most difficult metric to shift in the marketing funnel across all media channels, according to a One Device study. Digital display showed the largest awareness lift — 3.8 percentage points, but demonstrated no movement in purchase intent. Video ads delivered the maximum consideration lift — 0.9 p.p.

Out-of-home advertising (OOH) proved to be the strongest tool at lower funnel stages: 1.7 p.p. increase in purchase intent, plus notable results in consideration (0.7 p.p.) and awareness. OOH is the only channel that meaningfully impacts all funnel levels simultaneously.

When traditional channels show mixed results and internal processes slow down response to trends, selecting the right influencers and smart media buying become a competitive advantage. A professional influencer agency helps brands not only find creators with the right audience, but also forecast KPIs at the integration planning stage, build a funnel from awareness to purchase, and measure real impact on sales. The ETC team specializes in these tasks: from market analytics to campaign launches with transparent reporting at each funnel stage.

In brief

• Search engines are trusted by 77% of users, AI assistants — by 31%; Gen Z actively searches for information from influencers on social media (49%) and video platforms (45%).
• 56% of marketers miss key moments due to slow internal response, while 54% of consumers are more willing to engage with brands creating timely content.
• 79% of marketers cannot separate short-term sales from long-term brand impact, with only 15% making budget decisions based on performance data.
• 40% of Britons use AI for product selection, but two-thirds are not ready for autonomous purchases; social media is the primary source for discovering new products.
• Consideration is the most challenging funnel metric: video delivers a 0.9 p.p. lift, out-of-home advertising is the only channel impacting all funnel stages.