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It’s not the best pic in the world, but Google is apparently testing a new results page. The new look has two ads at the top, four on the bottom, and (surprisingly) none on the righthand side.
My guess is they’re testing click-through rates for this look-and-feel vs. the norm. Also, by limiting the number of ads on these pages, the cost to compete for Page One real estate goes up, which is good for Google (time willl tell if it’s bad for advertisers, but I’m guessing it’ll increase investment). |
After significant ad-crowding and getting pushed further down the fold the past few years, organic listings are looking really good in this layout, which arguably is better for Google users (and those who enjoy favorable organic rankings).
May 25th, 2006 at 7:22 am
Hi Joel,
The revised layout was used here in the UK a couple of weeks ago (I kept some screenshots) but they have now gone back to adverts down the side.
It will be interesting to see if they make it permanent as there are less ads per page with this layout which will no doubt encourage people to bid more to appear on page one.!
Mike Taylor
http://www.jobsinsearch.com
May 25th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. Google advertising appealed to a lot of people initially because the results were good for the spend. The more of a bidding frenzy there is, the more people will think about alternate sources.
May 25th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
I think Colin is right, people will have to start looking elsewhere as there are only so many advertisers who can come out on top.