The Mobile Shift in Google’s Paid Search
April 27, 2015
An interesting article from eMarketer.com arose in mid-March stating that Google is predicted to lose $1.4B in desktop paid searches. U.S. paid mobile search grew more than double – at a whopping 120.8% in 2013. In contrast, paid desktop search had only risen by 2.3% last year.
On the same note, the Google’s mobile search revenues will increase by $1.76 billion according to eMarketer.com.
So what does this mean for Google?
Desktop search is declining, and in turn mobile search is increasing. With those numbers above, the prospects are that mobile search will total one-third of Google’s total search revenues by the end of 2014.
How has Google put more focus on the mobile market?
Last summer, Google announced “enhanced campaigns” which combine both desktop and mobile pay per click advertising departments into one. These enable users to purchase ads as a single package rather than having two separate Google Adwords budgets for one website.
There are upgraded features and new conversion types in Enhanced Campaigns. For example, phone calls are integrated from a click-to-call perspective in a mobile ads campaign. Another added bonus is that you can make adjustments based on the location of the mobile user, which is helpful for local businesses. You can also find many more features here.
Creating one enhanced campaign will provide clients with the incentive to put more budget toward mobile, and make it easier for users overall.
Is that why the SERP has changed?
It is a possibility that Google decided to shift the design of the overall search engine results page (SERP) so that Adwords clicks (especially in mobile) will continue to grow. Here is a comparison of what the SERP used to look like, compared to what it looks like now:
Photo Credit: Moz Blog
The old version includes a lightly colored background and underlined title tags. The new design is much more discreet and follows the look and feel of the organic search results. The way you can tell the difference is the addition of the yellow [Ads] label for each section of the SERP.
This may prompt users to click on the ads more often because it is less busy and complex.
What does this all mean?
It means that Google is making an innovative modification to the SERPs as well as Adwords offerings in order to help users as they shift towards mobile searching.
Tell us what you think in the comments below.