By Coincidence or Design? Adwords' Resemblance to Organic Search Results
Are paid search ads infiltrating the organic results? If you’ve done a keyword search in Google recently, you’ve surely noticed the similarity between the paid and organic listings. Take a gander at this recent screenshot from Google:
Like the calm, blue sea merging with a clear, blue sky, it is difficult to discern where the paid search listings end and the organic listings begin.
Google is an innovator, and they are constantly testing and making changes to their search engine. Over time, we’ve seen small changes (e.g. a lighter background for the ads, lengthening of headlines, addition of the page preview and site ratings icons) accumulate and emerge into a clear pattern: paid and organic listings are looking more and more alike.
This has created a buzz across the online advertising community, leaving everyone wondering: is Google deliberately crafting their paid results to look like organic search listings? Is there an underlying scheme to trick users into clicking on paid ads, which might result in more clicks and revenue for Google, while possibly undermining the conversion rate for advertisers? Are all the changes and new features necessarily in an advertiser’s best interest?
The fact is, the changes could just as well be the happenstance of repeated testing, from which the optimal design that was bound to emerge over time was one that minimized the difference between paid and organic search. Either way, perhaps the most important question is: how does this impact best practices for ad writing, and what needs to be done to best take advantage of all the updates and new features?
In the following sections, we will outline some of the recent changes and offer tips on creating ads to cope with Google’s ongoing metamorphosis.
A Laundry List of Recent Adwords Changes
As mentioned above, the changes to paid search ads in Google have been gradually blending the appearance of paid and organic listings. Here is a summary of some of the more notable updates:
Changes to the Overall Layout of the Ad Section
We’ve noticed a number of changes to the ad section layout that have rendered this section nearly indistinguishable from organic search. The most apparent is the change of the background color for the upper ads. The color has gone over time from a fairly bright yellow, to light purple, to a pale, nearly invisible yellow. In addition, the title of the section has been changed from “sponsored links” to the less noticeable “ads.” And the ads to the right have been pushed closer to the organic results.
URL Changes
The display URL, which once allowed capitalization, is in lower case now and has been placed directly below the headline. This mirrors the format and placement of the URL in the organic listings.
Longer Headline
For ads appearing in the upper portion of the page, Google will now merge the first line of the ad with the headline, whenever the first line has punctuation at the end. This not only helps put emphasis on the first line by placing it in bold, blue highlighting, but also creates a headline that is similar in length to an organic listing.
Ad Extensions
The ad extensions feature is a recent addition to Google that places phone number and address in the ad, much like an organic listing, and puts a blue marker on the map similar to the red markers for the organic listings.
Landing Page Preview and "Recommend This Page" Icons
The placement of landing page preview and “recommend this page” icons to the right of the paid search listings mirrors the placement of these icons within the organic listings.
Shopping Engine Features
Google now offers seller ratings for their paid search ads, as well as listings of specific products with photos and product extension ads that offer a list of products much like you would see in the shopping results list. For e-retailers and other services where this type of listing applies, the layout makes the ad look very similar to the “shopping results” section within Google organic search.
Coping with the New Features
So, how do you make sense of all these changes? Keeping in mind that not all Google updates and new features are advantageous for every particular business, we offer the following recommendations:
Take advantage of new features, wherever they make sense for your business. Retailers may want to include product extensions in their ads, while businesses with physical locations will probably want to enable ad extensions with their phone number and address. On the other hand, businesses without a physical location may want to deactivate the ad extensions feature, since many users of Google Maps are seeking a store with a physical location rather than an online purchase, and such traffic is likely to be unprofitable. It is wise to stay on top of the new features that Google rolls out, since you may occasionally find yourself opted into something that doesn’t make sense for your business.
Rewrite your headlines for the top ad position. Not only should you consider punctuating your ads to take advantage of the longer headline, but you should also consider how the headline and the first line will read if they appear together in the same line. Avoid repeating the same claim in the title and first description line. Your title and description should function as two unique propositions that can stand on their own, but also flow naturally together if they are located in the same line. In particular, you may want to audit the ads for top performing keywords where you are likely to appear in the first three positions.
Apply the fundamentals of well written ads. Google will continue to experiment, and we guarantee that the format will continue to change, thus rendering some of this advice obsolete. However, ads that are well-written with compelling claims will best withstand the fluctuating format.
Needless to say, it can be difficult to keep track of all the new developments in Google. The team at 360 Partners constantly monitors Google updates and can advise you on how to best apply them to your business. Contact us at SearchMarketing@360Partners.com for a free evaluation.
