It’s getting hard out here for an SEO! Google AdWords— excuse me, Google Ads (that might take some getting used to)— is now expanding expanded text ads to 3 headlines and two 90 character description lines. These new and improved expanded text ads are great for PPC managers (although they may have to work late updating everything), but it’s not going to make life any easier for SEOs.
Nope, this isn’t great news for those of us who make their money by winning organic search traffic for our clients. It’s just further evidence of Google’s trend away from organic and towards paid, as the amount of space available to continues to decrease as Google takes up more space with ads and other SERP features.
So What?
All right, that’s all awful news, but what does this mean for you?
Well, for starters, you better consider dipping your toes in the water of paid traffic if you haven’t already. Nothing’s free, and that’s truer than ever on Google. If you’re already running paid search ads on Google, then get ahead of this update. All accounts will have access to the additional ad real estate by the end of August. Be ready to capitalize.
Before You Go All In on Expanded Expanded Text Ads…
But don’t do anything rash. Test these puppies out. See how they fare against your old ads. Once you’ve got a strong new ad you can start thinking about turning off those old school two headline ads.
The ads you’ve been running won’t disappear. Unlike the last text ad format, Google has no plans to do away with the “old” expanded text ads. If you left everything the way it is, nothing would break. You just wouldn’t be taking full advantage of all the space Google is offering you. And, since other companies probably won’t make that mistake, you may see a decline in results if you wait to long to update your ad copy.
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