Google eliminates desktop-search paid-ad positions

Performance Media

At the end of last month, Google announced sweeping changes to paid-ads on desktop search that will undoubtedly impact and alter the ecosystem of both paid and organic search. As most advertisers know, the right-side column on desktop-search results was reserved for paid-ad positions four thru 10. Not any more. Google will eliminate these ads and ONLY display paid ads at the top or bottom of the results page.

With the available ad positions decreasing, there will be a shift in online advertising as a whole:

• Paid search will become more competitive
• Quality scores will be watched closely due to the risk of lower click through rates if ads do not appear in the top four ads
• CPC prices will rise as a result of the increased demand for the smaller supply
• AdWords tactics will need to become more aggressive in order to adapt to Google’s implementations.

And the impact doesn’t stop here. Organic search positions will become some of the the hottest real estate on first-page results with the reduced availability and SEO results will be pushed even further below the fold.

Times are changing and so must our strategy, an ever-evolving state of the Internet affairs!