Google recently made a significant change to how it will display ads in search results going forward, a powerful new publishing platform is coming to Facebook, and Google has made itself available for 24-hour AdWords support.
Read full details about each of these headlines in our latest SEO news roundup.
Google to Stop Showing Ads on Right Sidebar
Google has confirmed it will permanently stop showing ads on the ride sidebar of desktop search results. Google is now showing a new set of ads below the first page of search results.
The set of ads that appear at the top of search results will remain untouched, for the most part. The company says it may choose to display an additional ad at the top for what it considers “highly commercial queries”.
If you’ve seen this variation of search results before, it is because Google has been testing the removal of sidebar ads for several years. Last week’s change is permanent and will be reflected on all search results with only two exceptions. Product Listing Ad boxes and Knowledge Graph ads will still be displayed in the ride sidebar.
It’s time to get used to the new desktop search results, and advertisers should prepare themselves for the potential increases in costs per click (CPC). The basic law of supply & demand applies in this case, with the same demand for a decreased supply of above-the-fold ad positions. This will make it likely that average CPCs will rise significantly for AdWords advertisers.
Google AdWords to Offer 24-Hour Support
Have anything to ask Google as a result of the recent change in how it displays ads? Now you can ask that question, or any other questions you may have, to the AdWords team 24-hours a day via social media.
Google has made itself available 24-hours a day, Monday-to-Friday, to field questions about AdWords on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and YouTube. The team appears to be quick to respond to queries on Twitter, usually replying within a few hours.
This is a great avenue for asking very specific questions about your campaign and getting a response directly from Google. Now, if only Google offered such a service for asking questions about organic SEO. Maybe in the future?
Facebook to Launch Instant Articles Worldwide on April 12th
Facebook has a solution for slow-loading articles on the mobile web, and it’s being rolled out to everyone on April 12th. Instant Articles is a new publishing platform that promises to load articles up to 10 times faster than standard mobile web articles. Instant Articles has been available to a small test group of large publishers for the past several months. Come April 12th, a publisher of any size will be able to use the platform.
If content marketing is part of your SEO strategy, it’s recommended that you look into Instant Articles as a way of distributing your content on the world’s largest social network. There is little difference, the company says, when it comes to publishing an Instant Article vs. publishing a blog article.
For example, publishers have full control over how the content is displayed, and will have access to page analytics data. In fact, publishers can even sell their own ads direct to advertisers for placement in Instant Articles, use their own tracking platforms, and keep 100% of the revenue.
When available, Instant Articles can be created by clicking on Publishing Tools at the top left of the screen and selecting Instant Articles from the menu. Expect more details after the official worldwide release on April 12th. One detail that would be important to note is what effect, if any, Instant Articles has on organic reach in the News Feed.
Wrapping it Up
Sidebar ads are all but removed from Google search results, the company is offering 24-hour AdWords support, and Facebook’s Instant Articles may turn out to be an essential new publishing platform.
We expect you may have questions after reading through these latest updates. Please leave a comment below, or contact us directly, and we’ll help you as best we can.
Featured Image Credit: (c) Can Stock Photo
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