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Last month, Google announced they would be shifting the location of AdWords text ads that appear on their search results pages. Instead of ads on the top and side, ads now appear on the top and bottom – no side, depending on the search term. Google made this change so they can begin offering helpful content on the right side where AdWords used to be.
This change has both upsides and downsides. The downside is that there will be less positions on the first page. Instead of up to twelve ads, there will now be just six. This will result in higher bids and a more competitive landscape for advertisers who wish to appear on the first page of results. However, moving the side ads to the bottom will likely increase click rates, since the ads will now fall inline with organic search results. Despite the labeling, people in a hurry tend to ignore the fact that these are ads and assume they are part of the actual search results, leading them to click thru more often. So moving the ads in line with these results will have a positive effect in terms of driving traffic to your site…provided you are on the first page.
If you would like to see an example of ads on the bottom, do a search for the word “pizza”. Compare it to ads on the side by searching for the term “insurance”. As you’ll see, the bottom ads format runs right up against the regular search results, making it harder to distinguish them as ads. On the other hand, the side ads are well-known to most as ads. The bottom line is, advertisers can expect to pay more per click depending on the search term, but will enjoy higher click rates on terms where the ads appear on the top and bottom.
