No right way

Google redesigned the cornerstone of desktop discovery this week and, as a result, organic desktop results got pushed further down the fold. Text ads will no longer appear on the right hand column, replaced by three, or sometimes four ads displaying above the organic results. Search Engine Land published a FAQ with all of the changes and WordStream listed what marketers need to know about the redesigned results page. Hubspot’s analysis is helpful for marketers who are not strictly SEM focused.

The reaction has been mixed and many blogs advised search marketers to turn off or review automated bidding systems until the effects become better known. MDG was among the blogs predicting that CPC rates will go up as competition for the four top spots intensifies. Larry Kim looked at the biggest winners and losers and WordStream provided data on click rates by position, with an intriguing suggestion that the third slot could have some potential.

The clear loser is organic search and it has been noted that Google’s own search algorithms wouldn’t think very highly of landing pages that are dominated by paid ads above the fold.

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Republished from the Feb 25 2016 edition of Who’s Blogging What, a weekly curated newsletter for digital marketing professionals