The world of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) never sleeps! Last week, while the nexus-security team was enjoying a shorter work week, beautiful Boston weather, and celebrating Erin Sagin’s birthday, Google decided to shake things up. They began rolling out a major change to the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), removing the paid ads on the right side - the biggest change we’ve seen in years.
Moz was among the first to spot this on Thursday morning (February 18th), and by Friday afternoon, the entire industry was buzzing with speculation about the potential impact on paid search. Let’s analyze the early observations of this change and see how it has affected advertisers.
What’s Different?
Position 3: The Unexpected Champion
Many believed that position 4 would be the primary beneficiary of this change, and it’s true that it experienced a 15% increase in click-through rate (CTR) and received more clicks. However, the real winner is position 3. Our data reveals that position 3’s CTR doubled on Thursday following the change and has remained high throughout the weekend.
The Underdogs: Positions 5-11
Advertisers in lower positions suffered the most from this SERP realignment. Positions 8-11 are the most severely affected, as they are no longer displayed on the first page of results. However, positions 5-7 also saw a significant decrease in both impression share and the percentage of total paid clicks from the SERP:
After the changes on February 18th, PPC ads in positions 5, 6, and 7 are receiving less exposure on the SERP.
Shopping Campaigns: Worth Noting
Shopping campaigns have gained a distinct edge with the new SERP structure. Product Listing Ads (PLAs) and the Knowledge Graph panel are now the only elements displayed on the right side, alongside the top four paid search ads. Preliminary data suggests that this advantage is contributing to a slightly improved CTR for PLAs and a greater share of paid clicks from the SERP.
Over the last few days, Product Listing Ads have experienced modest gains in both CTR and paid reach on the SERP.
What Remains Unchanged?
No Universal Change – Yet
Don’t worry if you’re still seeing ads on the right side of the search results; you’re not alone. Search Engine Land’s Ginny Marvin is just one of many who reported seeing ads on the right side as of Monday afternoon.
Our colleagues at Moz have been monitoring the rollout closely, and while SERPs featuring four ads have become more prevalent since February 18th, they still represent a minority - slightly less than 20% currently.
Therefore, the change hasn’t affected all searches yet, and not all advertisers will notice any immediate impact on their performance.
The SERP Change Hasn’t Reduced Paid Search Traffic
Many experts are concerned that fewer ads above the fold will result in a decline in ad clicks. Some have even observed a decrease in clicks and impressions since the February 18th rollout. While we’ve also witnessed a slight dip in impressions and clicks, we firmly believe this is not a direct consequence of the SERP modifications. Instead, it aligns with the usual weekend trend of reduced search volume.
In reality, our accounts experienced a marginal increase in clicks last weekend compared to previous weekends.
PPC ads continue to attract a consistent volume of clicks.
Search CPCs Remain Stable - For Now
Some experts predict that the decreased visibility of ads in positions 5-7 and the removal of positions 8+ will intensify competition for top positions, driving up cost-per-click (CPC). Conversely, others suggest that more ads at the top will increase ad inventory and consequently lower CPCs.
Currently, there’s no evidence to suggest that CPCs have been impacted by last week’s SERP changes. While some advertisers have reported lower CPCs, this is likely due to reduced competition in the AdWords auction over the weekend, particularly from advertisers utilizing dayparting to control ad scheduling.
Paid search ads have not experienced any significant fluctuations in cost-per-click.
Although Google’s redesigned SERP has the potential to pave the way for exciting new developments in the industry, it’s unlikely to trigger drastic overnight changes in ad CPC or PPC inventory. Undoubtedly, some advertisers will benefit more than others. The key takeaway is to avoid panic and focus on adapting campaigns if performance shifts become apparent.
Data Sources:
This analysis is based on data from a sample of 2,367 nexus-security clients’ accounts across various industries within the United States. These accounts were actively advertising on the Google Search Network in February 2016. All monetary values are presented in USD.