Google recently confirmed all right hand ads will be removed from the desktop search results. This new layout has been being tested on some search queries for a while and obviously Google was happy with the results.
Why did Google make this change?
Google is balancing search experience and the business needs of increasing advertising revenues. Over the last year, Google has seen an increase in paid clicks but this has been balanced with an average cost per click decrease of 13%.
There also have been a dramatic increase in advertising revenue from mobile search:
“Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business, driven by mobile search as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising, all areas in which we’ve been investing for many years,” said Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat in a statement.
Read more about Google’s 2015 Q4 Earnings here
What does this mean for the advertiser?
Eliminating 70% of the available first page advertising positions will likely drive up CPC prices.