Not a week goes by without me having to comment or write about something new that Google is doing to try and increase revenue from advertising. Last week they extended their mobile advertising platform and this week they are experimenting with getting higher click through rates on advertisements.
It’s quite possible you have not noticed this experiment as it is not happening on all searches, it is just being experimented with by Google right now to test it’s future potential. With that said some very savvy marketers were able to pick up these changes and front Google about them this week.
Google has confirmed that they are experimenting with Google Adwords placement and advertisements and what we saw was just one simple example of those experiments. The specific example I am referring to is the addition of an extra line under a Google Adwords Ad. Instead of just having 3 lines of content with the advertisers website, it is now testing 3 lines of content with the advertisers website and a click count.
The click count below the Adwords advertisement shows the number of times a visitor has click on the advertisement. Obviously this move is designed to add social proof to the advertisement so in turn the ad should get a higher click through rate. By helping the advertiser to get a higher click through rate Google will make more money from advertising sales.
This is another innovative move made by Google to increase their revenue streams yet again. It appears that Google is desperate to keep their massive revenue growth’s moving forward. One of the major problems with a company like Google is that their investors expect to see major move’s in revenue and Google right now is doing everything to keep those streams moving forward with growth.
As an advertiser you should be slightly concerned as it appear’s Google is able to make changes to your advertisements without even notifying you. Most of the advertisers who actually had this change applied to their ad didn’t even know it occurred. The internet conspiracies are again on the rampage talking about how Google is taking too much control and that users should be concerned.
From my point of view I personally welcome Google to work on my account any time they like, if they can increase clicks, I can increase conversions and have more customers for my business. A company increasing their revenue streams is not a major concern as that is normal business. If that increase also helps their customers then everybody wins.
Keep an eye out on your ads and see if you notice any improvements lately!