Google have confirmed that search results pages on desktop will no longer show text ads in the right sidebar. Instead, as many as four text ads will display above the organic listings, and three text ads will show at the bottom of the page.
There will certainly be a lot of analysis to come on what this change means for advertisers — impressions, CPC, CTRs, average position and so on. Here’s what we know so far about the move.
What Exactly Is Google Changing?
All of the changes confirmed on Friday pertain to desktop search results on Google.com and Google search partners.
There are a few elements included in the changes to desktop results:
– No text ads will be served on the right rail of the search results on desktop.
Google will serve four text ads instead of three in the mainline area above the organic listings for more “highly commercial queries”.
– Three text ads will show at the bottom of the SERPs.
– The total number of text ads that can appear on a SERP will shrink from as many as 11 to a maximum of seven.
– Product listing ad blocks and Knowledge Panels (sometimes with ads, as tests continue in these spaces) will show in the right rail on relevant queries.
– These updates are rolling out permanently worldwide on both Google.com and search partners.
If you want to learn more about this and what this means to you and your business, give us a call!
