Google search is changing…..

No one can have failed to notice. But the extent of the changes has probably been missed by many and these changes have occurred just over the last 15 months.

Whether spurred on by one of these two factors, Google is changing.

• the profit motive
• or trying to keep pace with the new pressures of news and other feeds, social networking (Facebook overtook Google as the most visited site in the US on March 15 according to Hitwise)

Which one is really irrelevant (a fact of life) and less important than implications of these changes. The most important question, in my view, is whether these developments have no stopped or are they part of a continuing trend?

If a continuing trend will paid search via AdWords and these newer additions to a search engine page result (SERP) effectively ‘crowd out’ the natural or organic listings making much or SEO irrelevant or more difficult to accomplish for clients effectively

Additional Google search features
Any search now has a news results, video results, shopping results, may be RSS feed, tweet results, image results, blog posts, book results, latest results, a Wikipedia result or two, a You Tube result or two and so it goes on(1).
Just consider the search page results for ‘social networking’. Google has tried lots of complexity, such as image adverts, video adverts etc.
In the search result for social networking the top red box has news results and image results. The bottom red box has blog posts, book results and searches relating to social networking.

Impact so far on organic listings?
My view is that Goggle’s changes to AdWords and its SERPs (Search engine results pages) have had a major impact on the balance between organic and paid search – many of the changes (see above) have the effect of reducing the importance of natural search or moving the organic listing off the first page results’ listing. Let’s call this the ‘crowding out’ effect.

Expanding AdWords page search
There is also a second factor at work. One clearly motivated by the profit incentive. AdWords makes money (it could be argued that it is the most significant profit generator that funds many of Google’s other activities)(2).

• Text ads will continue to dominate most of the search results. Google tends to put 3 paid search results as shown right with no space before the natural search results on the top left-hand-side.
• Soon, my guess, is that this will move to 4 adverts on the top left-hand-side but gradually….
• This means that Google can now earn (with 3 ads) revenue from up to 12 adverts on the first page – rather than 8 previously.(3)

The second factor which is discussed below in greater detail is that we will see a greater percentage of SERPs with new ad formats and ad extensions blended into text adverts(4).
Note that the crowding out effect is noticeable here. The first red box shows two natural search results for the same company which, may or may not have been manipulated there(5). The second red box shows a ‘shopping results’ section with images and pricing information chosen by what often appears as a random algorithm.

AdWords Ad Sitelinks – taking space away from organic listings
Each of these advert extensions have the result of increasing the space allocated to paid search or AdWords adverts and reducing that available to organic listings.

AdWords sitelinks (6) is defined below (by AdWords) with an example below that: Ad Sitelinks is a new AdWords feature that allows you to extend the value of your existing AdWords ads by providing additional links to content deep within your sites. Rather than sending all users to the same landing page

A high quality (not the keyword quality field more to do with a high CTR%) to be permissible and you may need to be whitelisted (plead with your Google rep on hands and knees but it won’t always work). Great for paid searchers because it allows them to advertise new products, special offers and a continuing sales on discounted items. In effect this allows the AdWords advertiser an additional 140 characters in their adverts. Reported improvements in CTR range between 20%-30%. Bad for SEO.

Product listings and extensions – taking space away from organic listings
Product extensions pull relevant Google Merchant Center products into a box featured at the bottom of a traditional AdWords advert. Product extensions may show the product images, pricing and titles of products that are the closest matches with an individual advert – but it does not always work that perfectly.
Again you may need to be whitelisted and you also score a sufficiently high CTR and internal Google quality score. Google controls the product selection or rather the Plus box extensions. This can be very trying - sometimes the plus box extensions will not show on the adverts you like it to show on.
With Abt.com whose major product sales were TVs (second green box), the Plus box extensions mainly showed accessories – see right
Possible good for paid searchers.
Again bad for SEO.

Other types of text adverts – taking space away from organic listings
Some of these are on beta or restricted use as of now. But my view is that they migrate to common usage:

• Click to Call adverts with location extensions lets users browsing through smart-phones click-to-call phone numbers in sponsored listings.

• Comparison Adverts
  (see below) or to give it its full name: AdWords Comparison Ads. These let users have additional information about their query and advertisers pay if the user clicks through. These formats appear on a limited basis. In theory its provides users with a useful service.

 

• Form Extensions Beta allows users to fill out a form right on the SERP if the ad is in the preferred position (number one spot above organic listings). Advertisers are charged the maximum bid CPC for submissions.

All these three advert extensions are bad for SEO.

Other influences – taking space away from organic listings

• Then there is Personalized search which will alter the way Google serves adverts based on the things you've searched for on Google and the sites you've visited.
• Google is concentrating heavily on Display and Image ads.
• Local Business Adverts.

And the list goes on. All possibly bad for SEO.

So where does that leave organic listings?
There are two effects which together are squeezing out the traditional role of SEO or making organic listings much more difficult to achieve.

• The expanding nature of a SERP listings page. The crowding out phenomena. With social networking and other sites overtaking Google in popularity, this can only get worse.
• Like any natural monopoly, Google will go for profits while it still can. Before the next big thing. So, as we have seen above, Google is expanding the area allocated to Adwords and paid search results.

The net effect is to a) diminish the importance of organic listings and b) make the life of the SEO professional that much more difficult.