On February 19, 2016, advertisers noticed a drastic shift in desktop traffic.
According to the pros at Search Engine Land, the share of traffic driven by the right-hand ad bar on Google search results had dropped through the floor; while those driven by ads placed below organic results had increased. Google has since confirmed that the right-hand ad rail is a thing of the past.
Before these changes, up to three ads were displayed before the organic search results, with as many as eight more in the right-hand rail.
Now, an additional ad can be placed before the organic results, and as many as three more may appear below them. If you’re keeping track, that means four fewer slots than before.
Understandably, advertisers and businesses are concerned about how this new, streamlined layout could affect things like Cost-Per-Click (CPC) and Click-Through Rate (CTR).
A “No-Cost-Per-Click” of the play button in this video posted by WordStream provides some insight into Google’s new results page to better understand the positives and negatives. (If only a mere video could truly capture the multi-faceted machinations of Google Almighty.)
The Pros
First, if you rely on ecommerce, your shopping campaigns (Product Listing Ads) will appear in the right-hand corner where ads used to be displayed. Because of this, both a higher click share and better CTR have resulted for this type of ad, leading to the potential for greater profits.
Additionally, data indicates that the third ad has significantly higher CTR than the others, although there is no current explanation available for this. Stay tuned.
The Cons
With four ads gone missing, we can expect CTRs for standard ads to decline sharply. Additionally, this means competition for the remaining slots will increase dramatically, pushing the CPC up. This is a major concern for smaller businesses or those who lack the resources to optimize for search results.
Additionally, the CPC for the ads at the top of results is likely to rise, as those near the bottom are easily missed and therefore less desirable.
According to the data thus far, the ads at the bottom have gained traffic since the change, potentially counteracting this effect to some degree, but it deserves a close eye over the next few months.
Organic search results will likely take a hit as well, as they are now pushed further down the page with the addition of an extra ad at the top. This jolt will be felt as we Google from our mobile devices–the driving force behind this change—as the competition for screen real estate can have a big impact; this many ads at the top requires a few swipes just to reach the organic results.
What You Should Do
The importance of using paid search and SEO in tandem cannot be overstated. When these two tactics are used together, you cover all the bases. If a paid search result is relegated to a more obscure area, the SEO results will back it up, and vice versa.
Over time, more data on Google’s layout shift will be released so the best possible decision can be made as they relate to your company’s goals.
In the meantime, we’re here – dedicated to remaining informed and keeping it real with performance data to ensure these modifications don’t mess with your bottom line.
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