Google AdWords Switches Format, 4 Ads on Top, 0 on Sidebar

Google AdWords has been one that many people have enjoyed taking part in. It’s a powerful, easy to use and potentially lucrative form of advertising revenue generation that helps big businesses and independent bloggers alike make a strong, recurring income. However, like everything else in this world, Google AdWords has been changing quite dramatically over the years.

As have been noted by popular search engine marketing blog The SEM Post, Google changed its format. Usually, ads appear on the right hand sidebar. Now, four (4) ads will be located on top of the organic search results.

Rather than becoming a cluttered side mess that got ignored by people, AdWords is now actively part of your organic searches. These sponsored links will now appear at the top of the chain. It will give you unhindered access to these links as they will now become a genuine part of the search results.

This has come after many years of trials and changes with layouts to try and find the best solution. With this idea being chosen, Google opt for simplicity. Instead of the design being an invasive option that limits the creativity of choices, it brings it all in together.

Whilst it’s going to keep being refined and changed over time, the idea is that it only be used for a highly commercial query. This is basically when you are online looking for something to buy – the keywords that you use will, hopefully, indicate your intentions. These are typically keywords that have a genuine relevance to making a purchase, and will normally be the highest value keywords as well.

The idea is that using these keywords in conjunction with the new layout should make it easier for people to find direct links to the kind of products that they might like to buy. Fans of advertising will be happy to know they will be more integrated with the overall process once again, whilst getting even more exposure.

With fewer ads appearing now, you will have less competition appearing for each search. However, this does not mean that AdWords is going to lose its effectiveness or volume; bottom AdWords ads will stay unaffected and appear as normal.

Image courtesy of Christophe BENOIT on Flickr.