Say Goodbye to Google’s Right-Side Ads

Search Engine Marketing — Google AdWords

Google’s right-hand ads are gone, and they’re not coming back.

If you’re really into researching marketing topics and keeping up-to-date with search engine marketing trends (who isn’t, right?), then you’ve probably heard all about Google’s decision to get rid of the ads that were previously located on the right side of the search engine results page (SERP).

Marketing firms, paid ad experts, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists alike have all been going a little crazy over how it may or may not affect their overall click performance.

Google tests their product meticulously.

While there definitely are some pros and cons to this change, you must understand that Google scrupulously tested the new layout before actually implementing it. They tested it out for six years before they decided to go with the four ads at the top and three more down below.³

Google changing their SERP and Facebook updating their like button?! What a time to be alive!

AdWords Marketing New Layout

The Pros vs. the Cons

The Pros:

A brighter future for ads. 

• Ads are something that some audiences have tried to stay away from in the past. They sometimes give the “sale” vibe that people try to avoid while innocently browsing the web, and even though the ad may be perfectly relevant, searchers may just scroll down to find the top organic search result. Fortunately for advertisers, that’s becoming less the norm nowadays. With the new changes to the Google SERP, the paid ads are the most prominent thing on the page. People will have a greater desire to access information or products the quickest way possible, and will decidedly click on the ads.

A gigantic advantage to businesses that offer PLA’s. 

• PLA’s (product listing ads) are a hot spot for clicks because they offer a direct line of access to the customer’s search. Now that the side is totally void of other ads, the PLA’s that are displayed as a result will be sure to grab in those extra clicks.¹

The Cons:

Ads are going to get more competitive. 

• This one is pretty straight forward. It’s the old ‘supply & demand’ rule. Since there are fewer ads being supplied by Google, the demand will inevitably increase to be listed on the top four ads, and you can bet your bottom dollar that companies are going to be paying more for those top spots. You mustn’t forget about your Ad Quality, though! Try to beat out the competition with your ad’s strength and relevance, not your dollar.

Google organic search results are going to take a hit. 

• As you can see in the picture below, it looks like for the new layout, there are no organic listings going to be displayed about the scroll fold. This doesn’t mean that SEO should be thrown out the window. This means that you should focus on SEO now more than ever in order to try and maintain crucial ranking.²

Mobile Ads are going to be even more important for Search Engine Marketing.

Google’s right-side ads never existed in the mobile SERP anyway, but the change of the desktop SERP will affect the mobile SERP as well. It may mean that more businesses are going to find mobile ads more appealing, especially since a) the mobile market is experiencing huge continual growth, and b) mobile ads offer an alternative to fighting for the top spots on the desktop SERP. It will be interesting to see if Google changes their mobile SERP in order to keep up with the growing mobile demands.

Change is always scary but we’re certain that, soon enough, this will all be old news. Marketers will adapt, and businesses will be able to acquire even more focused customers, which will lead to more conversions.

How do you feel about this change? Let us know if you have any questions! We’re always happy to talk. You can reach us here at our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Google expands on decision to remove right-side ads.

Matt Lawson, an employee from Google, wrote a column on Search Engine Land on March 2, 2016, to speak on behalf of Google on why they made their choice. Like we stated above: Google does extensive research before making these decisions. Matt states that Google made ” … this update to improve the user experience  on Google Search, and to make that experience consistent across desktop, tablet, and mobile”. He goes on to say that over the years of testing they realized that the side ads weren’t very useful to businesses in the long run. The side ads were not “hot spots” for clicks. In reiteration of what we’ve said before in this post, Matt reassures his readers that the change is here to stay, and its best to wave the side ads goodbye.

Google changes their SERP frequently in order to keep up with the behaviors of their users, and we should be grateful that they make periodic changes to keep themselves and business ads relevant to consumers.

Sources: Search Engine Land¹, HubSpot², Smart Insights³