
Google is removing ads from the right-hand side of search results - enzoavigo
http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/20/11077472/google-search-ads-change-position
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jimrandomh
A decade ago, other search engines were selling the top spots in their search
results as unlabelled advertisements, and Google was able to claim moral
superiority by clearly distinguishing advertisements from organic search
results. As time has passed, the distinction has gradually weakened; the
advertisements' background color got whiter and whiter until it was the same
as the organic results, the fonts and colors got closer and close and became a
perfect match. Now the only difference between advertisements and natural
results will be the word "Ad" in small, white-on-orange text. How long before
they find something even more subtle to replace it with?

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soared
Extremely interested and slightly wary as to how this will affect ppc. My
informed predictions:

\- CPC increases across the board

\- CTR increases across the board

\- AdWords loses smaller ad buyers who simply can't compete for a top 3 spot

\- More stringent requirements about ad content

\- Awareness ads (not directly leading to a purchase or conversion) will be
unable to compete on cpc

\- Longtail keywords become more important, overall number of keywords brands
are targeting will increase

Ultimately I think this helps big brands who can afford top spots. They can
afford higher cpcs, and better keyword bid strategies. Google's revenue will
increase, but the number of ad purchasers will decrease. Ad quality (if there
is such a thing) will become "better" by aligning more with users search
intentions (Read: ads looking more and more like organic results).

I work at a digital agency, so these are only 90% bullshit predictions.

