There is a lot of talk about the changes to paid search – but you have to do the math to understand why changing to 4 paid ads is not a bad thing on Google’s Adwords Platform:
Today 65% of search is mobile & tablet
Which only show 2 ads top & 2 ads bottom of page
Total ads today: 4
Many industries have 75-85% mobile search so they are only being seen top of the page if top 2 placements are already being achieved.
So the change is not so crazy as people are making it sound. If the average user will click on 4 ads (that is the stat) then only giving them 4 ads/page is a good thing. The ads get more visibility and if you are top 4, you will get a much higher Click Through Rate. Higher CTR=lower bids
For certain industries it will be a challenge, legal & financial have so many competitors on paid search that pulling the 6 positions off page one will hurt. If the change chases the smaller players out, Google may have to rethink their strategy, without all the small players contributing, Google stands to lose money (and they hate that!).
Only time will determine the good/bad and ugly of the changes and how the new format effects your individual business’ advertising results!
