UPDATE:
In July of 2017, a study was released which examined the effect that the elimination of right-side ads had on the effectiveness of the remaining ads. By examining over 4 million ads before and after the change, Accuracast found increased click-through-rates for the top four spots after the change. That means more eyes for advertisers and a larger piece of the pie for Adwords customers.
The Ongoing Evolution of Adwords
Google has officially discontinued the use of right-side ads on Google Adwords. This was announced recently but was actually enacted today. So, when you searched something you used to see three main results and then a litany of right-side results. Now, you will be met with up to four main results and no right-side ads at all, with a few notable exceptions: Product Listing Ads will still be shown to the right if they exist and ads in the “Knowledge Panel” will still be shown.
What does this mean for Adwords Advertisers?
The good news is, right-side ads were not strong performers. The conversion rates, click through rates, and ultimately ROI were all significantly lower than the ads appearing in the main channel. An additional ad space is being made available above the search results as well, which means while competition will be more fierce at the top, there are also more available ad positions which are relevant and helpful.
An Emphasis on Google’s Ad Extensions
Google wants its users to have more information about the ads they are seeing. So, going forward ad extensions will become more important than ever. This provides a better experience for the user, but it will require more work from advertisers as well.
Going Forward
Moving forward, Gatorworks will do what it has always done—adapt and evolve to Google’s changing methods and rules. No one knows for sure exactly how this will affect advertisers, click-through-rates, conversions, or overall impressions. We will continue to monitor the effects of this latest change and keep our clients in the loop about how we can help them to advertise more effectively in the future. When we manage Adwords/PPC accounts for clients, we are constantly working to stay ahead of the curve in regards to changes–and this is no different.