Still reeling from the disappearance of all those exciting Google AdWords ads from the right hand side of Google Search?

Well, as announced back in May by Google, there’s more change coming. One reasonably chunky one is that from October 26 you will no longer be able to create Google Text Ads in their current form. Ads created before October 26 will still run – but that’s the end of creating ads in the classic format.

Thankfully, it’s not going to be all white space.

All classic text ads will be replaced with what Google calls Expanded Text Ads, which bring with them 50% more space to tell your story.

Here’s a pic from Google of what they are going to look like.

Apparently, Expanded Text Ads are optimised for mobile – the device format that is driving search volume across the network. So instead of 25 characters of heading and two 35 characters of description, you now have two 30-character headlines and one sizable 80-character description.

Google talks about a 20% boost in Click Through Rate with this new format, but I presume this depends on your ability to use the extra space you have. If you want to see how this format could work, try this neat little tool from Karooya.

Here’s my take on what it all means.

Mobile is driving the future of AdWords.

Google tells us it has re-written the platform to focus on the mobile audience because, as mentioned before, it represents so much volume. Which means this change is in beautiful sync with your business IF your Google Analytics account tells you that most of your website visitors mostly view your pages through a screen the size of a hand.

Organic Slips Further Down

Organic search results are getting further down the page. Now assuming that click through rates is a zero sum game, guess where the increased click through rates that Google is promising for Expanded Text Ads is probably coming from? My pick is that it’s at the expense of organic listings, that are now just a little bit harder to find.

Set and forget is definitely not a AdWords Management strategy.

I imagine there are thousands of sleeping AdWords accounts – accounts that were set up a few years back by an expert of the time and that have been displaying ads ever since without further human touch. The opportunity to create Expanded Text Ads is rolling out across all AdWords accounts now, so it’s only a matter of time before these old skinny versions from sleeping accounts are crowded out by their upsized cousins.

Expanded Text Ads is just one of a few changes Google are rolling out across their AdWords platform. It’s a changing space alright, and a real opportunity to gain an edge on your competitors who sit back and do nothing. If this describes you – the action-driven person, that is – call us today and let’s start a conversation.