Another day, another major change to the look of your Google Ads.
Google has this week revealed that for selected ads in the top three positions, the ad headline will now incorporate the advertiser’s display URL. So we go from this:
To this:
Many advertisers are still not clued up on the last change to ads in the top three positions, where the headlines were extended to incorporate the first description line (so long as the line ends with proper punctuation). So just a matter of months since Google last changed their ad headlines, and they’re at it again! The world of AdWords is nothing if not fast-moving.
So what’s the consensus on this latest format?
Unsurprisingly, Google tells us the new headlines are a change for the better. And their reasons are fairly clear: as an advertiser, your brand will be more prominent in your ads, and searchers will have a better idea what site they’re going to before they click.
Of course, there are other factors to consider. Many advertisers rely on their headline and first description line to get across vital parts of their ad. This is particularly the case for longer keywords, where they may need the space to include their keywords. The new-style ads can include the display URL as well as the headline and description line, but only if the full headline reaches 68 characters or less. However, for most advertisers, every character is precious and is used up accordingly.
But it’s not all bad news. After all, the new style headlines will make your company name more prominent which means that your brand will make more of an impact on the searcher. Particularly if they make a number of searches during their session, which is common in most industries.
What’s more, although Google are changing things around in the headline, they’re not actually taking any room away from advertisers. On the contrary, they’re actually giving your ad more ‘real estate’ on the results page. And that is always good news for advertisers!
N.B. We wonder whether this change has got anything to do with the recent dispute between Interflora and M&S, where Interflora took legal action against M&S when the latter bid on the keyword ‘interflora’ in its AdWords campaign. In March, the Advocate General gave his opinion on the case, suggesting that the proprietor of a trademark has a case if the ads leave confusion over whether the advertiser is the trademark owner or a competitor.
Of course, placing the brand more prominently in the ad means this confusion is much less likely to arise. Everyone is – hopefully – happy.
