Over the past couple of weeks, Google (GOOG, GOOGL) has made some unsubtle changes to its search results pages. To say that the line between paid ads and organic search results has been blurred is to understate in the extreme.
I’d like to say I’m shocked, but not surprised. Except… I am both. This move will increase Google’s ad revenue. (Google gets paid when you click on something that it charges money for.) Google is a de facto search monopoly, and this is a move that is so “in your face” that it’s simply begging watchdogs and regulators to pick a fight.
Which begs the question: Is Google looking for a fight?
The days of cookies are numbered. The loss of cookies will negatively impact Google’s ad revenue (and everyone else’s for that matter). Is this aesthetic change (read: visual trickery) being put in place to offset some of that projected revenue reduction? Or, is Google just optimizing because… it can?
Either way, welcome to the new world of Google search results, where everything looks the same and there is no practical limit on paid search.
What's your take? Are you OK with Google's new ad layout?
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