Goodbye Google No.1 Spot - for every Niche and Product :-(

[a4questions]

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Forgive me if this has been posted already - but has anyone noticed that "Google Products" now appear in the SERPS for every product as the top natural result! :scared

My main site which was number one on Google for the search term now appears to be the 2nd result after google products. What makes it worse is that google display their "adverts" in the same format as a natural result (see example).

I read recently that the number 1 result gets 40% CTR and so this will have a huge impact on my traffic in 2009. Try searching now for any product (eg. LCD tvs) and you'll see what I mean.

Anybody else concerned?

[TimL85]

When I'm searching for a product I usually ignore those and go down the list...

[sussexrob]

Me to..

I wouldnt worry, just the ups and downs of AM

Look at it this way, if you had a huge site with huge traffic, then that could be worse

Just will make us work harder

Anyway, i just did a search for Elmo Live and the first site under the PPC was "Elmo Live: 50 - FREE Delivery" which i takeit is yours, i wouldnt worry. Must worse things have happened.

Plus, those google product links look a bit pants. Maybe Joe blogs clicks on them but i wouldnt Plain and simple, i click on stuff which stands out which is the larger text on normal sites.

Rob

[smingle]

Me to..

I wouldnt worry, just the ups and downs of AM

Look at it this way, if you had a huge site with huge traffic, then that could be worse

Just will make us work harder

Anyway, i just did a search for Elmo Live and the first site under the PPC was "Elmo Live: 50 - FREE Delivery" which i takeit is yours, i wouldnt worry. Must worse things have happened.

Plus, those google product links look a bit pants. Maybe Joe blogs clicks on them but i wouldnt Plain and simple, i click on stuff which stands out which is the larger text on normal sites.

Rob

Yeh but you are an affiliate marketer You DONT want joe bloggs to be clicking them do you ? lol

[a4questions]

Reasons why I'm very concerned:

• The Google Products link looks exactly like a Google Result Link. (unlike the sponsored adwords which are either a different colour or have sponsored ads text next to them)
  
• The Google Products link is 5 lines deep! (see example)
  
• The Google Products link displays 3 retailers with 3 Prices so "Joe Blogs" can instantly click to buy
  
• The Google Products is in SERPS prime estate, the fact that "joe blogs" has to look down for the natural results is another distraction away from our websites

I feel strongly that this will have some impact on traffic and CTR from Google. I can only hope that in time, users of Google will overlook these results as hinted TimL85.

[Stavros]

I think some people will become blind to them to some extent at least but only in the same way some people become blind to adwords (and I'm not sure just how significant adwords blindless really is since we generate a large amount of our traffic through PPC).

One way you could look at it is that, in effectively taking number 1 spot Google are forcing those sites to look towards paid ads to claw back the traffic slump.

It's just yet another example of Google doing whatever the hell they want, if they want to put their own pages in at number 1 spot, regardless of how long and hard another site owner has worked to get their site to number 1.. well, why would the big G care?

[amisuggests]

I had not even noticed them. And I am sure I am not the only one

[a4questions]

...these people have also noticed them:

• Why is Google products dominating serps now?
  
• From The Isn’t It Ironic Dept: Google Product Search’s Results Show Up In Google

Seems they appeared at the top of the SERPS around the busy Christmas holidays season. :td

[geordiboyo]

I wonder what Google Revenue is for PPC from affiliates?

Mark

[drivetowin]

It's just yet another example of Google doing whatever the hell they want, if they want to put their own pages in at number 1 spot, regardless of how long and hard another site owner has worked to get their site to number 1.. well, why would the big G care?

But why shouldn't they do what they want? Whether anyone else likes it or not, it's their site, just as we all have our own sites - so they control what appears on it and where. Google is a commercial operation and not a public service.

As in so many things it's a case of adapt and survive.

[deadgoodundies]

Weird thats it's not always the top results (under sponsored) as well

For example
bruno banani - Google Search

Our listing is higher than the products listing.

[sussexrob]

Yeh but you are an affiliate marketer You DONT want joe bloggs to be clicking them do you ? lol

No, but if they are there then hard to stop them Was annoying sitting next to my dad a few weeks ago and said to click on my site which is at no1 , and he click on the ppc add above it as he didnt know they were different which is a shame alot of people dont either

doh!

[Stavros]

But why shouldn't they do what they want? Whether anyone else likes it or not, it's their site, just as we all have our own sites - so they control what appears on it and where. Google is a commercial operation and not a public service.

As in so many things it's a case of adapt and survive.

As bullheaded as my previous comment came across I actually totally agree with you
But to some extent shouldn't Google abide by the same rules it lays out for other organisations and individuals wishing to rank well in its search results?

I don't know.

Edit: probably not

[TimL85]

Here's an article on it: Will Google Product Search Kill Internet Affiliate Marketing? -- Isnare.com Ezine Articles

[sussexrob]

Its going to affect ecommerce sites to though , even Amazon if they have the item at no.1 so yeah it will effect AM's more as the domains match more but still a pain in the ar*e to companies to

Ive still ignored them automatically when ive been buying online lately, a kind of i want to choose where to click, not have google tell me where to. There layout still looks a bit messy... it would be interesting to hear if anyone has any actual conversion result changes to share in the next few days

Then again, if i was a fulltime AM id probably be annoyed more

Rob

Edit : Just asked the girlfriend which ad should would click first out of the whole page and pointed to play.com down at numbr 6 for this item. I then asked her about the ads at the top and pointed to them and she said... "oh nah, i cant stand them up there. They look like compairson sites which i hate and even if they werent i like to look at the whole top ten before clicking.