BrightEdge Research: Demystifying Google SERP Layout

Google has been testing changes to its search engine results page (SERP) layout for quite some time. But in February this year, they made the changes to the Google SERP layout official:

• Ads and content were removed from the right side of the page, with the exception of product listing ads (PLAs) and the Knowledge Panel for certain search results
• Maximum number of text ads at the top of the page increased from three to four listings
• Up to three text ads will be displayed at the bottom of the page
• Maximum number of ads per page decreased from 11 to 7

These changes have left many digital marketers like you feeling unsettled, wondering what the implications are to organic and paid search strategies and programs. To shed light on these changes and what they really mean, BrightEdge analyzed over 7,000 keywords across the broad spectrum of the customer journey and across industries. The findings, published in our research report Demystifying Google SERP Layout Changes 2016, quantify the impact of these changes on critical business metrics such as rank and click-through-rate for organic listings across key "micro-moments" of the customer journey. In addition, the report provides recommendations on how organic and paid search teams can work together to optimize digital strategies and programs for greater business impact, given these significant changes. It's time to get informed and to take the lead in your organization. Download the report to learn more.