Nearly 80% of all paid search clicks occur within the top two or three paid search results, leaving a lowly 20% relegated to sidebar activity. Google is obviously acutely aware of this fact and with their recent onslaught of changes to the search results pages they appear to be finding an increasing number of ways to make the 20% all but disappear. All the while, the top paid positions are becoming an increased focal point of the new Google SERP changes.
The focus on these top ads was already augmented by the not-so-new but increasing variety of ad extensions available to this ad set making them all the more appealing to the user. Google Instant has taken this a step further by eating up SERP real estate at the top, pushing organic results below the fold and thusly increasing the focus on the top three sponsored ads.
For localized searches, the map result has been moved to the right sidebar and now consumes half of the above the fold placements that used to belong to text ads. The scroll follow feature makes this even more damaging to sidebar ads because it covers them up as you look down the page.
Additionally, the Google Preview feature when activated covers the majority of the sidebar ads with an image of the organic listing’s destination page. It’s almost annoyingly easy to activate the preview since clicking anywhere within the organic results (even in white space) will trigger this feature.
All-in-all, Google’s SERP changes of late have been giving the 20% the haymaker knockout punch. What about all the advertisers that depend on this little slice of real estate? There are only two or three spots at the top, so what about the rest of us? From Google’s perspective, it make sense to get more out of the 80, but 20% is nothing to scoff at, so why K.O. that chunk of your own livelihood? Well, a new BETA test adjustment to Google’s SERPs may hold the answer. In this new test, Google has entirely wiped out the sidebar ads all together and replaced them with an expandable list of sponsored ads just underneath the top paid results.
While at first glance this looks like it could be the death of page one sponsored ads for countless advertisers in the name of user experience, there’s an underlying method to this madness. Only the most qualified and relevant ads remain visible to the user initially, giving them an instant selection set of viable choices. The success of these ads in drawing in the searcher will then lend credence to the ads in the expandable list. If these ads are relevant to me, then the other ads just might be as well. Essentially, this format could potentially result in the inclusion of the “lost 20” in the user’s primary selection set. Additionally, the requirement of the user initiated interaction with the expandable list qualifies the user to a preference to the paid ads and shifts the balance entirely in favor of the sponsored search results on the page. Instead of wiping out the 20, Google has potentially created a way to increase the role of the 100.
Only time will tell if this is Google’s intention and whether or not this will actually be a benefit or a detriment to sponsored advertisers, but if I’m reading my tea leaves correctly then signs are point up.
For more info about this topic, check out MediaPost.