Searchers around the globe may have noticed that Google ads have been removed from the right hand side of search results. Although there is no official announcement from Google yet, this significant change appears to have gone global. At the same time, the number of ads at the top of search results has been increased to a maximum of 4. Beyond the ads on the top, the only other part of the page which seems to have ads showing, is the very bottom of the page, where the ads are next to useless.
4 Ads On Top – Nothing On The Side
There was a limited test in recent weeks, whereby Google was dropping the right hand side ads, in favor of showing up to 4 ads on the top, and clearly Google liked the results! Here is a sample of what the 4 ads on top look like.
Why is Google Doing This?
As at the time of writing, Google’s market value was a stunning $497 billion, second only to Apple’s $535 billion. Recently Google overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable company, only to fall back a little. Many people may not realize that Google AdWords provides Google with a huge chunk of its sales and profits. Google eliminating the right hand side, means that the many advertisers who languished on the side, have disappeared altogether or gone further down to the bottom of the page! This will clearly generate more aggressive competition among advertisers, pushing the keyword bidding higher and higher! More profits for Google and more R&D money to spend on things like self driving cars and cardboard VR devices.
Having 4 ads on top pushes organic results even further down the page, penalizing companies that have spent a fortune on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google clearly wants them to shift more of their advertising dollars away from SEO and towards Pay Per Click (PPC).
Google could simply say this is a means of showing ads consistently on mobile devices as well as desktops. There have been no right hand side ads on mobile devices for a long time, so this will ensure consistency. However, organic results are almost never seen on the front page of mobile searches, so once again the domination of ads in search results will result in more revenue for Google.
What does this mean for Google Advertisers?
If your ads had consistently shown on the right hand side in the past, most likely your Google AdWords campaigns were not particularly effective. Our research has indicated that ads appearing on the top were 10 to 30 times more likely to be clicked on than those that appeared on the right hand side. Bottom line, you have to be in the top part of the ads to be noticed and to potentially enjoy positive results for your business. This development is so huge for Google AdWords, that all advertisers should rethink their PPC strategy. We are always pleased to offer a Free PPC Assessment and Consultation.
For more information, a free consultation or free AdWords PPC assessment, please call 1-855-488-0988 or email us using the contact form on the right.
