This week witnessed a few major changes in the web marketing space. First, Facebook officially rolled out “Reactions.” I’ve written about this in the past, but it opens up the “Likes” functionality to many other emotional responses to posts. So far, the feedback on this upgrade seems mostly positive.
The more marketing-based change was Google announcing they will be featuring 4 ads across the top of search results pages. An example of this in the wild can be found below.
Many SEO’s are freaking out about this change, but in reality, it doesn’t change much. In exchange for stacking ads across the top, Google is removing all of the ads that currently appear on the right sidebar.
So while more focus will be on the first listings above the fold, savvy internet users will obviously continue skipping over the ads when looking for the most authentic organic result. Of course, clicks on these ads will go up a bit, but the user experience doesn’t have to change much for those of us aware of the ads.
This change is a smart move by Google. Higher click-through-rates will equate to higher bid prices for these ads. If advertisers see value in this ad traffic, competition will continue to drive prices up.