Applications
Adobe finds search the biggest driver of ad spends
NEW DELHI: The spending on Facebook has grown by 93 per cent year-on-year and now represents three to five per cent of search spend, indicating that social continues to be a strong, emerging digital advertising channel.
According to the Adobe Digital Index providing insights for the first quarter of 2012 as well as an outlook for the remainder of the year, digital advertising continues its rapid growth across all channels.
According to the report, while Facebook is still an emerging digital advertising channel, search remains the biggest driver of ROI for marketers. Previous versions of this report were published by the former Efficient Frontier, acquired by Adobe in January 2012.
Spending on mobile platforms reached eight per cent of all search spend in the United States and 11 per cent in the United Kingdom. Tablets alone account for four per cent of total search spend in the US. Mobile devices and tablets are lower-cost channels and ultimately contributed to Google’s Cost Per Click (CPC) decline of five per cent year-on-year. In contrast, Bing/Yahoo’s CPC increased by 18 per cent year-on- year.
Traffic on mobile devices, specifically tablets, increased fourfold year-on-year, and advertisers were quick to respond, growing search investments in mobile and tablets by 250 per cent year-on- year.
Every month Adobe analyzes advertiser data from over $2 billion in annualised spend under management. Based on a client index from the past three quarters (beginning in Q2 2011), some key trends are emerging.
Search spend in the United States is expected to increase at a rate of 10 to 15 per cent for the rest of 2012 – consistent with macro trends.
Tablet and mobile spend will likely make up 15 to 20 per cent of all search spend by the end of 2012. Investments in tablet advertising will grow as tablet visitors are rapidly increasing. Conversion rates on mobile devices are comparable to desktop performance even though mobile CPCs are 30 per cent lower.
While Facebook ad CPCs have increased 40 percent quarter-on-quarter for the past three quarters, CPCs on Facebook ‘Sponsored Stories’ tend to be lower than Facebook ‘Marketplace Ads’, which may contribute to temporary decreases in CPCs.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
