It’s all about the Blue Link

If your adwords users you will already have noticed that you ads being displayed on Google have had the clickable area is reduced to just the Title tag

the red outline shows you where the clickable area is :
Beer

also I noticed that the Google checkout logo is still clickable :

google checkout logo

what I didn’t like here was the the checkout logo for Europc is very close the the dell link ??

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17 Comments | Leave a comment »

  1. 1. Tameside | November 14th 2007 @ 1:38 pm

    Didn’t they used to do a little grey “speedy” shopping cart next to the title tag?

  2. 2. Link Snitch | November 14th 2007 @ 2:23 pm

    I think they are constantly testing where and how to show the Google Checkout image(s). I was unaware of the change for the clickable area. Thanks for pointing that out.

  3. 3. Joff | November 14th 2007 @ 3:16 pm

    They still show the speeding shopping cart in Adsense, so maybe that’s where you’ve seen it and not in AdWords?

  4. 4. ShoeMoney | November 14th 2007 @ 6:32 pm

    Google checkout only shows on search pages or content network also? I think its just search but I could be wrong

  5. 5. Fireblade | November 14th 2007 @ 11:44 pm

    So what is the deal for publishers? The adsense ads served have a large click area way beyond the URL and title. Is there any truth to the rumor that Google are only paying for clicks that hit the title or url?

  6. 6. Joff | November 15th 2007 @ 12:26 am

    I’ve re-read this post again and now I’m confused :)

    So did AdWords have a larger click area until now? I have to admit I’d never realised!

    And Fireblade, I’m not sure how they would monitor that. Did they have some Javascript behind the scenes?

  7. 7. Fireblade | November 15th 2007 @ 4:15 am

    Joff - I’m not sure, I caught part of a podcast on WMR with Dave and Danny S talking about the “issue”.

  8. 8. Igor The Troll | November 15th 2007 @ 7:30 am

    Whats up with the beer keyword?
    Vanessa plugged it also..:)

    I rather do wine!

  9. 9. Quality Nonsense | November 15th 2007 @ 9:00 am

    Google changed this a while ago for the top slot AdWords (yellow background).

  10. 10. Simpletiger - Jeremiah | November 15th 2007 @ 8:51 pm

    Funny question I have wondered for some time: Do SEOs and people in the know click these ads as much as others? I usually just type in the URL if I see an interesting ad, but then doesn’t that actually do the advertiser a small disservice because they don’t get accurate results on where the clicks are coming from? Cool post Dave :)

  11. 11. Lea de Groot | November 16th 2007 @ 6:24 am

    Yep, the google.* sites changed a while ago. The content network (all those adsense publishers, out in the wild) are being changed over atm.
    Its weird that they haven’t made the URL clickable!

  12. 12. Jorge | November 16th 2007 @ 3:32 pm

    Things will be a lot better with adwords when the choice of adverts improves

  13. 13. Clark | November 16th 2007 @ 5:37 pm

    Still looks the same to me. It noticeable that the area has been reduced in adsense ads though.

  14. 14. Robert T | November 17th 2007 @ 1:07 am

    This affects adsense ads too. No change in CTR noticed on my sites yet. I don’t think many people realized they could click anywhere but the title.

  15. 15. Fireblade | November 19th 2007 @ 2:43 am

    Just in the last couple of days the “click area” on my adsense ads has reduced to URL and title. No change in CTR or revenues so far.

  16. 16. Jack | November 20th 2007 @ 7:55 pm

    Adsense is getting worse every year. My friends used to make $$$$ every month, now they get crap.

  17. 17. SEO Guy | November 27th 2007 @ 8:55 pm

    Well I never. I hadn’t noticed that.

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