A new study examines the impact of Google’s search generative experience on advertising within Google’s SERPs.
A study by SEO platform SE Rank found that:
- Regardless of the presence of SGE snippets, your ads will likely appear at the bottom of search results.
- Ads at the top of the SERP are more likely to accompany SGE snippets than shopping ads (carousels).
- Shopping ads (carousels) typically appear above SGE snippets.
- Niche fields like fashion and beauty, e-commerce and retail are more likely to feature shopping ads.
why do we care? Understanding how SGE impacts Google SERP advertising is critical for businesses and marketers to make data-driven decisions for more effective marketing.
the study. SE Ranking looked at 100,000 keywords across 20 niches, each with different search intent and volume. This analysis provided insights into how often Google provides AI-generated responses, search generative experience (SGE) content length, link patterns, variation across niches, and ad placement.
Investigation result. When SGE snippets containing text exist (18,455), our research found that:
- Your ad was shown the top 4,280 times (23.19%).
- The ad was shown at the bottom 6,499 times (35.21%).
- Shopping ads were shown in carousel format (see screenshot below) 2,660 times (14.41%).
- This means that in 5,016 cases (27.17%), there were no ads with text in the SGE snippet.
Type of advertisement. The study also investigated different ad types combined with text-based SGE snippets. Researchers discovered:
- Both Shopping ads and ads at the top of the SERP were accompanied by 1,018 SGE responses.
- Shopping ads were displayed alongside text-based SGE snippets in 2,660 cases.
- In 3,262 cases, only ads at the top of the SERP appeared alongside text-based SGE snippets.
carousel shopping ads. Carousel shopping ads can be placed above, below, or in the sidebar of your SGE snippet.
Advertising. The study also looked at the most popular locations for shopping ads in the SGE SERP. His data shows a clear preference for showing shopping ads above SGE snippets.
- Shopping ads appeared 2,969 times (80.72%) above SGE snippets.
- In 502 cases (13.65%), shopping ads were placed below the SGE snippet.
- Shopping ads appear in the sidebar 207 times (5.63%), making this placement the least common.
What the SE rankings say. A spokesperson for SE Rank said in a statement:
- “The takeaway here is that we need to stay on top of things. Change seems to be happening almost every day.”
- “Comparing these results with previous research we conducted makes this even clearer. When we conducted the first round of SGE surveys in late 2023, we found that we were unable to trigger SGE snippets. This time, 12.3% of the keywords did not trigger an SGE response.”
- “While this investigation sheds some light on Google’s AI-powered response, much remains unknown. We are closely monitoring the latest developments in SGE and will continue to stay informed. We will conduct further investigation.”
What Google is saying. Philipp Schindler, Google’s SVP and CBO, said the following at Alphabet’s 2023 Q4 earnings conference.
- “As we shared last quarter, ads will continue to play a key role in the new search experience and we will continue to experiment with new formats native to SGE.”
- “SGE is creating new opportunities to improve people’s commercial behavior by displaying relevant ads alongside their search results.”
- “We also found that people found ads above or below AI-powered summaries helpful because they gave them a convenient option to take action and connect with businesses.”
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deep dive. Read the full SE Ranking report to learn more.
