Effects of the Google PPC Update
Up until February 2016 a google advertiser with the aim to be above the fold for PPC advertising had a choice to either secure a place in the top adds or, for a lower price, a spot in the right hand side bar.
What’s changed?
- Google now serve four text ads instead of three in the mainline area above the organic listings
- Three text ads will show at the bottom of the SERPs
- The total number of text ads that can appear on a SERP has shrunk from eleven to a maximum of seven.
For google advertisers these changes, which have been made permanently, have meant that they have had to reevaluate budgets, performance expectations and revenue return rates.
Having been in place for nearly four months now, agencies and advertisers alike will have seen an increase in click costs and the need to reevaluate campaigns so that a positive return is still yielded.
If you have seen a decline in either calls, leads, inquiries or sales through your PPC campaigns, it would be wise to do a month on month comparison (comparing to a relevant month pre Feb 16) to compare:
- Adgroup performances
- Average positions
- Clicks
- Average CPCs
- Conversions
By comparing your account performance to pre update you will be able to clearly see the impact the change has had on your PPC advertising.
