Have you noticed something missing from Google searches on your laptop lately? Probably not, but it’s more likely that you feel like something is missing than notice it. The item you are missing are the ads that use to appear on the right hand sidebar of search results.
Why You Don’t Notice Ads Are Missing
Many consumers suffer from a phenomenon known as “Marketing Blindness” which prevents them from consciously seeing and recalling ads, both online or inn real world scenarios. Studies have reported that the overwhelming majority of people don’t notice ads. It is due to marketing blindness that you likely stopped noticing sidebar ads in the distant past, but may still notice that something may be missing from the results page of some of your more common search results.
What is Missing from the Right Sidebar
In case you still haven’t noticed, its the ads. At least this is the case in most searches. If you primarily search from a mobile device you won’t notice the change, but on desktops you will no longer see any text ads on the right sidebar. Along with this change you will begin to see three text ads at the bottom of the search results pages. This will reduce the first page total text ads from possible 11 to a maximum of seven split between the maximum four above the results to 3 below. The change makes the search engine results page look almost identical to mobile device search results pages.
When Will Ads Still Show in the Right Sidebar
There are still a few commercial search results where you will see ads on the right sidebar. One of them are Product Listing Ads or PLA boxes. These show either above or in the right sidebar of search results. Additionally, you may begin to notice a fourth results above search results for “highly commercial queries” such as “Los Angeles Hotels” or “Auto Insurance Quotes.” Also on relevant queries you may notice knowledge panels, which may sometimes have ads. It is not clear whether or not these knowledge panel ads will continue after tests are concluded in this space.
How This Will Change Adwords Marketing
As a digital marketing agency in Las Vegas we continually monitor SERPs for ways to help our clients gain advantages and a competitive edge by utilizing new trends. In light of this change, now in effect worldwide, we have already started to see an increase in average cost per click (CPC’s) as advertisers have less opportunity to get their ads above the fold of search results.
