Over this past weekend, Google made a major change in the search engine results pages or SERPS. They are no longer serving up the ads on the right side of the page. Statistically, studies have shown that many users ignore those because they know they are ads anyhow. The difference now is that Google will show 3 or 4 ads first on the left side or “regular” results. Up until this weekend, there might have been one ad as the first listing, but now Google is showing 3 ad Listings first and will show 4 ads on highly commercial search terms. This obviously means that organic listings will be pushed further down the page, potentially below the all-important “fold”. To make matters worse, Google is further squishing out organic listings by adding more ads at the bottom of the results.

Read more about theories and workarounds for this new development on Search Engine Watch, who first reported the change on 21 February 2016. Here are screen shots they provided as examples:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

What does this mean for website owners and search engine marketers?

The bottom line is that marketers and website owners must remain vigilant in cutting edge technology and marketing tactics. Staying on top of technology and the news is imperative so that you can innovate and be creative. Here are some tips to help keep your listings high and traffic up:

• If you can compete for paid listings, then optimise them well, but understand that this change will likely increase the competition and raise pricing.
• Optimise your organic listings including your meta data, schema, and content.
• Refresh your content often.
• The PLA (Product Listings) will still be shown on the right side. Utilise product listings if they apply to you. This will be a great way to stand out.
• Recognise that Google’s probably reasoning behind this change is to better serve search results on mobile and smaller screens; and of course, to make more money. However, being mobile friendly is no longer an option, it is vital to staying on top of the competition.
• Some users still do not recognise the difference between ads and organic listings. However, those users who do might click to the second page results more often than ever before. Don’t give up, and keep optimising your listings.
• Be innovative and creative.
• Try new tactics.

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