--- title: "Google AdWords is changing: what it means for your business" url: "https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/google-adwords-is-changing/" canonical_url: "https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/google-adwords-is-changing/" markdown_url: "https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/google-adwords-is-changing/index.md" language: "en-AU" last_updated: "2026-09-08" type: "article" summary: "Google removed right-hand column ads and put up to four above the organic results. What that does to click prices, competition and SEO." --- # Google AdWords is changing: what it means for your business Source: https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/google-adwords-is-changing/ **Google Ads · SEO · 2 March 2016 · 2 min read** ## Google AdWords is changing: what it means for your business ![A laptop on a desk, open to a search results page](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/img/google-adwords-changes-laptop-1500.webp) **In short** In February 2016 Google removed text ads from the right-hand side of desktop results and put up to four above the organic listings. Fewer ad slots meant higher prices and tougher competition for small advertisers, and pushed the line between ads and organic results further down the page. That layout is still what you see today. Google has removed the ads from the right-hand column of its search results. From now on, at most four ads appear above the organic results, with a few more at the bottom. For anyone paying for search traffic, that is a big change. ## Click prices will rise Google gives the top spot to the highest bid, all other factors being equal. Ads above the organic results have always attracted higher bids than ads to the right or at the bottom. Now more advertisers are competing for less space, which pushes prices up further. ## Tougher competition, and what it means for SEO Fiercer competition favours large advertising budgets, which usually means large brands. Smaller competitors risk being pushed to the bottom of the page, or off it. One possible consequence is an exodus of smaller budgets towards organic search, which would make SEO more competitive too. There is a second scenario. The expanded top block is more attractive than ever, so big brands may move even more money into paid search and trim their SEO budgets, which would relax competition in the organic results. Which of the two plays out is anyone’s guess right now. We will need to watch the rankings over the coming months. ## Conclusion One thing is certain: the change is profitable for Google, because click-through rates on the top block are higher. For advertisers and SEOs there is no definite answer yet. My expectation is a redeployment of budgets, with big brands spending more on paid search and small providers more on SEO. For searchers, the line between ads and organic results keeps blurring, and knowing the difference matters more than ever. *Note: Google AdWords became Google Ads in 2018. The four-ads-on-top layout described here is still how search results look today.* ## Questions people ask ### Does Google still show ads on the right-hand side of search results? Not text ads. Since February 2016 text ads appear above and below the organic results only. Shopping ads can still appear on the right on desktop. ## Sources 1. [Confirmed: Google to stop showing ads on right side of desktop search results worldwide](https://searchengineland.com/google-no-ads-right-side-of-desktop-search-results-242997), Search Engine Land ![Philipp Enders, digital producer](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/img/philipp-enders-digital-producer-manly-303.webp) **Philipp Enders**, Digital producer. Google Ads and Google Analytics qualified, certified Google Partner. Digital Freelancer since 2011 in Manly, founder of Tiki-Taka Media in Hamburg (2020) and of pmax, a Google Ads agency in Mallorca. Fifteen years of running search campaigns for small businesses on three coasts. Published 2 March 2016, updated 8 September 2026. [About me](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/about/) · [Contact](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/contact/) **Need a hand with this?** I do this for a living, for small businesses on the Northern Beaches and beyond. The first conversation is free. [Talk to me](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/contact/) ## Related reading 14 June 2022 ## [Digital marketing consulting, now from Hamburg too](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/digital-marketing-consulting/) In 2020 I founded Tiki-Taka Media, a performance marketing agency in Hamburg. What that means for Digital Freelancer and clients on either side of the world. 8 September 2026 ## [A free website for your small business. Here is the catch.](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/free-website-for-small-business/) I build small businesses a hand-coded HTML website at no charge when I run their advertising. What it includes, who it suits, and three sites built this way. 8 September 2026 ## [Is AI recommending your business? How to check and fix it](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/is-ai-recommending-your-business/) How to check whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI answers recommend your business, by hand or with a tracking tool, and what to fix when they do not. ## Let’s talk about your next digital project No obligation, no jargon, and it costs nothing. Tell me what you need or what is not working and I will tell you what I would do. Philipp Enders · [philipp@digitalfreelancer.net.au](mailto:philipp@digitalfreelancer.net.au) · [+49 40 2286 3441](tel:+494022863441) · [WhatsApp](https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=494022863441) [Request a free quote](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/contact/) [Explore projects](https://digitalfreelancer.net.au/projects/)