Google has updated its desktop search to look more like its mobile results page, highlighting the company's effort to push advertisers to spend more readily on mobile, where most searches now occur. Google has removed the ads that appear on the right hand side of its search page on desktop and added up to four paid ads above the unpaid or "organic" listings. The new ad format is a departure from Google's current approach in which it shows only one sponsored link per search, instead of two as it does now. There are two exceptions to Google's changes, its "Knowledge Panel" and Product Listing Ads (PLAs); spend on PLAs grew faster than regular search during the holiday quarter, increasing 33% overall and 111% YoY on mobile devices, compared to 13% growth for paid search. This explains why Google is limiting paid search ads and giving more space to shopping ads.
Google has updated its desktop search to look more like its mobile results page, highlighting the company's effort to push advertisers to spend more readily on mobile, where most searches now occur. Google has removed the ads that appear on the right hand side of its search page on desktop and added up to four paid ads above the unpaid or "organic" listings. The move aims to increase Google's share of the revenue per search ad, with advertisers expected to bid more heavily for fewer paid spots that show in each search result. There are two exceptions to Google's changes, its "Knowledge Panel" and Product Listing Ads (PLAs); spend on PLAs grew faster than regular search during the holiday quarter, increasing 33% overall and 111% YoY on mobile devices, compared to 13% growth for paid search. This explains why Google is limiting paid search ads and giving more space to shopping ads.