Paid vs. Unpaid Ads- why are they important?

In January, Google redesigned how ads appeared in its search results page. This blurred the line between paid ads and unpaid search results. The reaction to this new change sparked controversy pushing Google to revert back to its old design.

This change comes with a complicated consideration for marketers, because it makes it difficult for them to understand if users are organically coming to their sites through search results or if they are accidently clicking on the paid ad without knowing it was sponsored. This gives Google greater power over the marketing industry but can cause hesitation leading to decreased credibility in search results.

Previously, Google paid ads have been displayed as shown above. The small green “Ad” button helps users distinguish paid ads from organic search results. With a new design, Google attempted to seamlessly integrate paid ads with organic results creating backlash from users. As mentioned in The New York Times, “the reaction to the recent search page changes was so negative that Google took the rare step of reversing some of the design.”

The reversal of the design is pivotal to understanding why the difference between paid and unpaid ads are essential for marketers and business.

• The distinction helps marketers determine what amount of their traffic is organic and how much of their traffic is through paid ads. This helps companies determine if their SEO is effective and make changes accordingly.
• It is difficult to decipher where a company’s highest value customer is coming from (organic traffic or paid traffic). If the highest value customer is coming to the company through various unpaid backlinks, then the company can work on enhancing that experience than misplacing their money in paid ads if they don’t need it.

With Google being the prominent search engine in the industry, majority of businesses depend on it to increase their marketing outreach. With blurred lines between paid and unpaid ads on Google, users will start to get frustrated and affect how they view search results moving forward. It was a great move on Google’s part for reversing their design to bring back the clear distinction of paid ads in the search results. This shows how the users’ and companies’ voices are heard; this accommodation supports businesses marketing endeavors while building trust in consumers. Paid and unpaid ads are both necessary in getting traffic, but should be fully disclosed to the user to promote transparency.

Article mentioned: The New York Times