As an aspiring entrepreneur or Internet marketer, you likely depend on Google for your business one way or another. Google might be the world’s biggest search engine, but the company is truly never content. They’re consistently making alterations to their alithogram and many times at the expense of businesses. If you’ve been keeping up with your SERPs, you’ll likely know that they’ve dropped substantially in the past few weeks. Unfortunately, this is nothing on your end. The sole responsibility lies at Google’s feet and their brand new change.
The Basics
So, what has Google done to business owners this time around? Although the change has only impacted a minute amount of their PPC customer base, it will truly alter the entire search engine as a whole. The group has decided to do away with Side ads. Now, the ads will be lumped together at the top. Instead of the traditional three ads and organic results, users will now be greeted with four ads, before they’ll be able to see the organic search engine results. According to statistics, only 14.6% of paid clicks generated were side and bottom ads.
Obviously, Google believes the move will only impact a few, while bettering their service for a lot. Of course, it doesn’t always work out this way and this is not the first time Google has put Internet marketers and those relying on organic results in a bind.
The New 4th Ad
The lucky business or individual, who manages to secure the 4th ad spot, may be the only one benefiting from the arrangement. The brand new ad will actually appear to be organic and will make it blend into those below it. This could make a difference, since many Google users refuse to click on ads. The 4th spot comes with a few additional perks as well, including having the ability to take advantage of ad extensions. This will give businesses a better opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition and provide their potential clients with additional information. In return, it could substantially increase click-through rates.
A Boost For Position 3
While a handful of PPC marketers will be getting the shaft, one could benefit enormously. The previously underachiever, position number 3, could very well receive a boost from the change. According to data from WordSteam, position 3 receives a massive increase in CTR, after the alithogram change was implemented. In fact, the CTR more than doubled. So, not everyone is going to be crying about the future.
Ad Impressions Will Still Remain
It appears that Google has a motive behind this “big change”. Hopefully, this is Google’s way to make the desktop results more similar to the mobile results. Of course, Google has tested and retested this format, before actually going through with the changeover. During the move, Google disposed of the text side ads, which leaves one to question, whether or not Internet users were even using them. Now, each results page has 7 ads, instead of the usual 11. Each page of the Google search results will look like this, 4 ads remaining at the top and 3 ads below the organic results near the bottom.
Maybe, it will improve advertisement performance or not, but one thing is for sure, everyone will need to sit back patiently to see what is in store for the ad impressions. Remember, that this only affects the desktop version, which appear to be significantly lower than mobile.
A Potential Win For Businesses
Although the results of Google’s change remains uncertain, many believe it will be possible for businesses to reap benefits. Of course, a few changes will need to be made to their ad setup, in order to truly capitalize on the change. An innovative workaround for new Google search layout has been discovered and it could make or break an online business in the coming future. A handful of PPC marketers will benefit enormously, including those that were previously in the 4th position.
By utilizing the workaround, these individuals will be able to increase their click-through rates, by as much as 30 to 50% and this could result in massively increased revenue.
