Embedded Site Links for Google Adwords

Every avid Google searcher will have noticed the appearance of ‘site links’ on the PPC ads on Google. These links are an Ad Extension enabled through the AdWords interface, and can include up to four links for high quality ads. This allows the advertiser to send visitors to a more specific landing page, or straight through to a desired action eg. Contact Us page or a Download Now page. They are shown either in a straight line under the Display URL, or in a square of four links, the latter making sure than the ad takes up a greater amount of space on the search results page.

Advertisers have seen CTRs (Click Through Rate) increase by over 30% on average due to these site links. However, Google have now changed the way that site links are seen. Now, instead of appearing underneath the ad text, they will appear in the ad text. So if your ads contain the same text as your site links, then it will appear as a link in your Ad Text. According to Google, it was originally planned for ads that appear on the right hand side of search results, as a way of including the site link extensions, but without taking up so much room. However, it is now only going to affect PPC ads appearing above the natural search results (ie the top 3 positions).

The downside to this? The Site Links extension used to make ads stand out more and be more dominant in the sponsored ads. Well not any more. Advertisers may decide to opt into other ad extensions in AdWords in order to gain back this advantage, such as Product Extensions or Location Extensions.