Notice that ads on the right from Google search results page have vanished since the last weekend?
If you keep up with the world of online marketing you may be aware already that Google has been carrying out tests for the last 5 years or so on displaying results for your queries without the ads on the right.
Over the weekend, those tests have now been formalized and Google has officially removed the ads from the right in an effort to bring the desktop user experience closer to mobile. The change began rolling out over the weekend and is expected to finish by today.
The above screenshot shows you what’s visible above-the-fold on a 1920 x 1280 desktop resolution! This is much more than the resolution you’ll find on most displays and note how 80% of the visible area is taken up by ads.
If you’re a product seller, expect to feel the impact even more. Already, for competitive product searches, you’re likely to find the biggest retailers like Argos, John Lewis and the like on the Product Listing ad. In this case, as a small retailer your only choice was text ads.
If you’re a service seller without any organic page 1 rankings, your CPCs could increase anywhere from 20 – 60%!
What can advertisers do about the change?
If you’re an online marketer chances are you know about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and if you’re not carrying it out already, now it’s more important than ever to get started. With these changes, the Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) of leads from SEO vs PPC should become even more cost-effective and sustainable.
How long before Google rebrands itself from a search engine to an ad engine?!