Since February 2016 Google has done without the right-hand ad column on its SERPs. The official reason is said to be bringing the desktop search experience in line with the mobile one. After a quiet test phase, these changes have now been rolled out worldwide.
In return, advertisers gain one ad slot: instead of a TOP 3 there is now a TOP 4 above the organic entries. In summary that means: no ads on the right-hand side, a reduced total number of ads on SERP 1, four top positions and up to three bottom ads.
O Column, where art thou?
From an SEO point of view this is “pretty harsh”. In the extreme example hotels london, on Chrome at a resolution of 1920×1080, no organic entry appears above the fold any more. SEO teams should proactively monitor for traffic drops.
The right-hand ad column accounted for only 5.7% of total click volume — bottom ads take more than three times as much.
Google remains undecided on shopping results: with three products they are shown above the top ads, with more products on the right. The knowledge graph also stays on the right.
Not all who wander are lost
Competition for top positions gets tougher, bids and CPCs could rise. There is a first reassurance, though: a study by intelliAd shows that CPCs on page 1 have risen by only two per cent, and for the top 3 by only one per cent.
The click volume of the bottom ads is strikingly high: while the right-hand column accounted for only 5.7% of total click volume, the bottom ads take more than three times as much click volume (approx. 19%).
3 immediate tips for advertisers
- Watch positions: keywords can drop out of the visible area if you are not bidding for top positions.
- Use extensions: ad extensions (sitelinks, callout) become even more important as a way to stand out. The “premium” extensions are no longer limited to position 1.
- Keep calm: do not suddenly raise budgets by 200%. Good judgement and daily monitoring of the numbers are enough. Bottom ads can still catch some of it if TOP 4 is out of reach.