In its drive to redefine sponsored search, is Google leaving organic results behind?
With a near simultaneous release of the latest search share numbers by Hitwise and comScore and Apple’s announcement of the new iAd mobile advertising platform, the industry is eating up the idea of Google’s decline and Apple’s meteoric rise to the advertising stardom. Some have even declared the future of search dead, an unfortunate victim of Apple’s app strategy.
Although a few small dips in market share can hardly be classified as the end of Google, it might be timely to reflect on the long-term implications of some of the changes the company has introduced to its search results.
Over the last 18 months or so, Google has introduced an array of changes to the SERPs, some that have dramatically altered the clean layout Google is famous for. Plus Box ads, product listings and real-time search have all been added in to the new blended search results page. Now sources report that Google is testing adding pricing information right inside its organic results (similar to microformats available in Yahoo).
It would not be an understatement to say that the breakneck pace of changes to sponsored search results stem from a monumental shift in thinking within Google. Organic search results powered by the “secret sauce” of their ranking algorithm have been at the core of the Google search experience for over a decade. Within a year and half, Google, which has always been conservative with layout changes, has rapidly introduced a series of new ad units, real-time search results and other changes which collectively represent the most significant shift in the history of its search engine results pages. For many search queries, the algorithmic results have taken a back seat to a range of new sponsored listings.
The changes seem to be welcomed thus far: advertisers (including many of our clients) are reporting positive experiences with the new ads. Users seem to be more engaged and, for many terms, having a range of products, prices and directions to the nearest brick-and-mortar location streamlines the experience.
At the same time, Google is letting advertisers control much of the SERP above the fold. While there is a Quality Score system to guide the relevancy of sponsored search results, paid search ads are not subject to the same editorial standards that Google places on organic listings.
All of the new ad units have undoubtedly solidified Google’s image as an innovator in the advertising space, but have we come full circle to the days of GoTo/Overture? The search giant is clearly feeling financial pressure to find new ways to milk its cash cow – search – since it is so heavily reliant on the revenue coming from its AdWords platform. Many other initiatives, although innovative and at times popular, have not yet matched the financial success of a simple pay-per-click model Google has perfected over the years. With companies like Facebook and Apple threatening Google’s dominance in the areas of much future growth, the company seems to be subsidizing many of its new initiatives with search.
A recent butchered launch of Google Buzz has undermined an image of a thoughtful, cool-headed approach to innovation at the company and has instead created perception of a panic. It remains to be seen whether a diminished emphasis on the core technology, and principles, that have made Google what it is today will help Google grow or undermine its competitiveness in the future.
Tags: Google, iPad, Organic search
