Any change made by the giant Google requires companies to adjust their Online Marketing strategies. But when the change is as significant as the one made to the layout of its search ads, it can truly shake up our Digital Marketing strategy.
The change is now a reality and affects the placement of paid ads in search engine results. We can see that:
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All ads from the right-hand sidebar of search results have been removed.
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A fourth ad has been added before the organic search results.
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Product Listing Ads (Google Shopping) and Knowledge Graph panels will continue to appear in the right-hand column.
This change was implemented on February 18. It is one of the biggest changes made in years and affects the way users and advertisers interact with the search engine.
This is the design change:
Visually, this change is significant… But what really interests us are the implications for advertisers and companies that rely on search engine traffic.
What Does This Change Mean for Businesses?
It is still too early to know exactly what impact this change will have on businesses, but we dare to make some predictions.
Click-Through Rate (CTR) Will Increase for the Top Four Ads (and Decrease After the 5th Position)
The first four ad results will dominate the first screen view and could even push organic results completely out of sight when combined with ad extensions.
Ads in lower positions (5th to 10th) will receive fewer clicks since they will no longer appear in the initial view.
Cost Per Click (CPC) Will Increase
Competition to appear in the top four positions will intensify. Advertisers will make aggressive bids to secure a top 4 position. Previously, small advertisers could appear in the sidebar with compelling copy and achieve good results. Now, a new strategy will need to be defined.
Organic Traffic for Top Results Will Increase
Many users still trust organic results more than ads and tend to ignore paid placements.
There was previously around 5% of clicks occurring on the right-hand side ads — these clicks will now be redistributed among the four ads and the top organic positions.
It is still too early to know how this change will affect hotels and other companies with direct sales channels in the tourism sector, as well as B2B businesses in Spain, since each search term has its own competitive scenario. However, any change always brings both challenges and opportunities.
What may initially seem harmful to small and medium-sized businesses due to the loss of the sidebar could actually become an opportunity to gain customers through organic traffic. Additionally, creativity in Google AdWords — particularly in using ad extensions and advanced features (expected impact), one of the three factors Google uses to determine ad ranking — may become crucial.
If you need help redefining your strategy, at Nexia we are specialists in Digital Marketing.
