Google Update 2016 – Right Side Ads Removed From Google SERP

Right Side Ads Removed From Google SERP – Last Friday that Google would be making one of the largest and most dramatic changes to the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) in recent memory, the search industry responded with an understandable amount of shock, awe, and, of course, questions.

As of February 22, desktop search results will begin to no longer display on the right side of the page – a staple of the Adwords platform since its inception in 2000.

The only exception will be for Product Listing Ads. All other search ads may only appear on the top or bottom of the results. In addition, Google has also confirmed that it may show an additional fourth ad at the top of the search results page for what it is calling “highly commercial queries.”

Why Did Google Make This Change?

This move does a couple of things for Google. Mainly, it creates a cleaner user experience when someone completes a search.

By including fewer options, it also provides a more cohesive experience between mobile and desktop search — which is something Google’s been prioritizing for a while, especially with last year’s major algorithm change.

For the first time last year, mobile search queries surpassed queries coming from desktop. To stay in front of this trend, Google’s product teams often build a product starting with the mobile experience or mobile first.

The overwhelming majority of paid clicks also come from ads above organic results. By eliminating the right-side ads from the SERP, Google is able to clean up the page without removing a frequently used ad unit.

What Can Marketers & Advertisers Do About These Changes?

Less ads above the fold mean it’s going to be harder to maintain the same amount of impressions and clicks you’re used to. It could also mean higher CPCs as bidding wars happen for those coveted top spots. If you’re bidding in a competitive auction and aren’t willing or able to achieve positions one through four you may want to ask yourself if those keywords are worth your time at all.

If you want to stay on course through these changes, here's what we suggest:

1) Review how your ads appear in Google’s SERPs.

If you currently have live Google search campaigns preview your new results by navigating to the Tools tab and then clicking on “Ad Preview and Diagnosis”. Here you can review search results by location, language, device and domain. To learn more about how to use this tool,read these instructions from Google.

2) Review your average position in search results for a given keyword.

Keep in mind that to maintain high impressions and clicks on your ads, you’ll need an average position higher than three or four depending on the keyword. If you’re lower than three or four you’ll be pushed below organic results or worse, the “no man’s land” known as the second page results. You can find the “Avg. Pos.” metric in the Keywords tab of AdWords.

3) Increase your average position in search results for relevant keywords.

There are two main ways to increase your average position: increase your bid, or improve your Quality Score. Google determines Ad Rank based on your bid vs. the competition, everyone else bidding on that keyword, as well as Quality Score, which is based on how relevant your ad and landing page are to the search term that triggered the results. To move up fast, increase your bid and quality score.

While it’s a good idea to aim for those top spots, you shouldn’t necessarily feel pressure to achieve number one. Too high of a bid, and the resulting clicks may generate less profit for your business than the ads cost. This is bad. Always use CPA (Cost per Acquisition or Conversion) as your trump metric. Focusing on this over position or CTR will keep your campaigns profitable as you bid for those top spots. Conversion metrics always win over click metrics.

Google is pretty deliberate with these kinds of changes and consults a mountain of data before doing so. We expect the change to stick and for Google to focus on the user above all else.

And remember, these changes have made it even more important that you’re optimizing for the top organic spot, as well as the Knowledge Graph. While ad real estate being removed from the right side could seem like a good move for marketers focused on organic search, it could also have the impact of moving organic results further down the page.

Those with a top organic spot, or a spot in the Knowledge Graph, will have a better shot at those organic click throughs than anyone else.