After executing substantial modifications in the appearance of sponsored advertisements, Google.com recently added the initial line of the advertisement caption label and placed the domain name at the end of the title. Google has also stepped up its effort to implement a total radical change in the appearance of links, consisting of both the sponsored and natural ones. Now, the URL address is highlighted in green just right below of an advertisement title.
Compared to the last change (transfer of addresses under a headline, which has more sense for a business user), the previous two changes (extending headline sponsored links) set clear goals and were closer in appearance to the sponsored links. The difference between advertisements and ‘unpaid’ links is steadily becoming blurred. It logically leads to the fact that more and more people click on sponsored links. It is a very logical move by Google as sponsored links, such as PPC (Pay per click) advertising and “Google AdWords” are still the only source of funding for Search Engine giant Google. Moreover, the PPC advertising pulls several other activities, free of charge.
Extension advertising title text has not yet proven to be effective both for Google and the advertisers. Highlighting the title is valid only for the first few (maximum 3) sponsored positions above the natural search results. This benefit is not applicable for the sponsored links on the right side of the results. This of course leads to an increase in competition at the front and then it increases the average CPC (Cost per click) for top positions.
This effort is of course very logical from the perspective of Google, because it increases the revenue. It builds on all previous changes in the appearance of search result pages. For instance, the advertisements of ‘paid links’ seem to be the ‘most popular’ links of the pages, expanding on the URL and perhaps finally the earlier expansions of the products. All these changes are valid for the front few positions only (maximum 3 positions).
The question is whether it is putting too much pressure on the Google preference for the leading positions and thereby raising prices for clicks. But it is a reality that the advertisers need to remember if they want to advertise on Google. This will benefit those advertisers who are able to withstand the fight at the front or can effectively manage PPC advertising. Similar changes had been undertaken by Google during last August (2010) when it put emphasis on ‘Sklik’ advertising.
It will be interesting to see whether the list will continue to favor the model of Google prominent position Sklik advertising. It is likely that Sklik will become the most important source of Google’s income and it will not take long.
Certainly it is beneficial to follow these changes and use them as soon as possible, because it offers the possibility to be always one step ahead in the competition.
