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 two paid ads above the unpaid or "organic" listings. Plus, they’re a hedge against Amazon, which draws a rising share of product searches, a looming threat to the core moneymaking part of the entire Alphabet, Google’s parent conglomeration. 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 up to four 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 33% YoY on mobile devices, compared to 33% 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 two 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 up to four 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 33% YoY on mobile devices, compared to 33% growth for paid search. This explains why Google is limiting paid search ads and giving more space to shopping ads.