Google has published an article with general information on how search advertising works. According to the company, ads are still not displayed for most searches. The purpose of a search engine is to provide users with relevant information to help them find what they are looking for. At the same time, the company earns only if the ads are useful and relevant, as shown by clicks on ads.
Frequency of ad serving
In fact, over the past 4 years, on average, 80% of Google searches have not resulted in top-ranked ads. Only a small fraction of sessions (less than 5%) ended up showing four text ads at the top of the SERP, reports SearchEngines.
Almost all advertisements are displayed based on commercial requests.
Impact of the COVID-2019 pandemic
In April 2020, users saw 40% fewer top-ranked text ads than in April 2019 on average. According to Google, this was due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, with the reduction of advertising budgets and changes in the search behavior of users who were less interested in purchases during that period.
Universal access to promotion
Google also noted that all companies, regardless of size, can reach leads through search, and during a Google Ads auction, advertisers are often charged less, and sometimes much less, than their bid.
The importance of relevance
Google stressed that it doesn’t make a cent until users find the ad relevant enough to click through.
The search engine is investing heavily in further improving its ability to serve highly relevant ads to users. It also improves the overall user experience.
Over the past four years, the company has cut the number of low-quality and irrelevant ads by three times.
Differentiating Paid and Organic Results
Google also noted that it continually runs tests on mobile and desktop to ensure that ad labels meet search engine standards and differentiate between organic and paid results.
User data protection
To summarize, the company once again assured that it does not sell personal information and is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of user data.
NIX Solutions reminds that recently Google News opened paid content for select publishers.