February Channel Benchmarks: Google Expands, Meta Pulls Back, and AI Search Doubles

Alex Fusco
Alex Fusco
March 03, 2026
Last Updated:

Top Gainers


Google Ads (+54%)
Google increased from 30.30% in January to 46.80% in February, a 54% jump in revenue share. Paid search captured a significantly larger portion of total revenue.

Bing Ads (+54%)
Bing Ads grew from 1.30% to 2.00%, also up 54%. While still a smaller slice overall, the growth rate mirrors what we’re seeing across search channels.

Referral (+46%)
Referral traffic climbed from 1.30% to 1.90%, a 46% increase month over month.

AI Search (+100%)
AI Search doubled from 0.10% to 0.20%, a 100% increase. The overall share remains small, but the growth rate is notable.

Direct (+2%)
Direct traffic held steady, moving from 10.50% to 10.70%, up 2%.


Decliners


Meta Ads (-41%)
Facebook Ads dropped from 22.30% to 13.10%, a 41% decrease in share.

Organic (-36%)
Organic search declined from 14.10% to 9.00%, down 36% month over month.

Organic Social (-55%)
Organic Social fell from 2.90% to 1.30%, a 55% decline, the largest percentage drop in the dataset.

Email (-18%)
Email moved from 8.30% to 6.80%, an 18% decrease.

SMS (-13%)
SMS dipped from 0.80% to 0.70%, down 13%.

Other (-7%)
The “Other” category declined from 8.10% to 7.50%, a 7% decrease.


Ready to see where your channels stand?


Use ThoughtMetric to track every channel, campaign, ad set, and ad in one place.

Book a demo to learn more.

Get full visibility into what drives your revenue.

You're spending on ads. We'll show you which ones matter.

You might also be interested in

E-comm Thoughts

How CAPI Helps Your Ads Perform Better With Accurate Data

What every e-commerce brand needs to know about Conversion APIs.

E-comm Thoughts

4 Signs You and Your Team Are Ready for an E-Commerce Attribution Tool

Clarity across channels starts with better attribution.

E-comm Thoughts

7 Attribution Insights That Separate High Growth Stores from the Rest

The specific metrics that high-growth e-commerce brands monitor to make faster, more profitable scaling decisions than their competitors.