• Search Engine Land
  • Sections
    • SEO
    • SEM
    • Mobile
    • Local
    • Retail
    • Google
    • Bing
    • Social
    • Home
  • Follow Us
    • Follow
  • Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Mobile
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • More
  • Events
    • Follow
  • SUBSCRIBE

Search Engine Land

Search Engine Land

"Medic" update recovery

How one site did it

Shopping Ads 2019

What's in store for SMBs?

Events

Join us at SMX Advanced!

  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Mobile
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Newsletters
  • Home
SEM

Sign up for our daily recaps of the ever-changing search marketing landscape.

Note: By submitting this form, you agree to Third Door Media's terms. We respect your privacy.


Google shows ‘People also search for’ suggestions in ad results, too

The feature has been showing in paid search results for several months.

Ginny Marvin on July 12, 2018 at 1:06 pm
  • More

This week, some marketers noted that Google’s organic “People also search for” box of suggested queries is showing up within the paid search results after a user clicks on an ad and then goes back to the search results page.

We hadn’t noticed this feature displaying within the paid search results before either, but it turns out the inclusion of these suggestions in the ads section isn’t all that new. We’ve learned Google began showing the “People also search for” suggestions in paid search results on mobile in September 2017 and more recently extended them to desktop paid search results in May.

“People also searched for” results also show under an ad after a user clicks back from the landing page.

The organic “People also search for” query refinement feature has been around for several years. It displays at the bottom of the search result pages and also appears within organic results either on delay or when a user clicks on a result and then clicks back to the search results.

The idea is that including suggested queries among organic and paid results saves the user from scrolling to the bottom of the page, if they know the feature is there, and allows them to quickly perform a refined search if they’re not finding what they want among the current results. That could also mean they end up searching on a competitive brand name after leaving your site. As you can see in the tweet from digital marketer Julie Bacchini below, the suggestions sometimes include competitor terms.

First time I am seeing this phenomenon – click on ad and if I go back to the SERP screen, it pops in this “people also search for” suggestion box.#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/KpUVXbHSxZ

— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) July 11, 2018

Advertiser reaction to this feature is not positive, no surprise. In addition to the competitor suggestions, concerns include the fact that the suggestions look somewhat like ad extensions and that they’ll detract attention from other ads on the page. On the plus side, the suggestions are fodder for keyword research and ad creative and landing page refinement ideas. Because the results are typically the same as the “Searches related to” query suggestions at the bottom of the results page, you won’t need to go clicking on ads to see what will show up.


Want more info on Paid Search? Check out our comprehensive PPC Guide – Nine chapters covering everything from account setup to automation and bid adjustments!



About The Author

Ginny Marvin
Ginny Marvin is Third Door Media's Editor-in-Chief, managing day-to-day editorial operations across all of our publications. Ginny writes about paid online marketing topics including paid search, paid social, display and retargeting for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, she has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.

Popular Stories

Understanding Search Usability
Machine vs. man: What really matters for SEO success
Google tests ads in Assistant results
Google Brings App Indexing Support To iOS Apps

Related Topics

Channel: SEMGoogleGoogle: AdWords

Sign up for our daily recaps of the ever-changing search marketing landscape.

Note: By submitting this form, you agree to Third Door Media's terms. We respect your privacy.


We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

Attend Our Conferences

April 2-3, 2019: SMX Munich

May 21-22, 2019: SMX London

June 3-5, 2019: SMX Advanced

June 12-13, 2019: SMX Paris

Sept 30 - Oct 1, 2019: SMX Advanced Europe

November 13-14, 2019: SMX East

×

Attend SMX - Click Here


Learn More About Our SMX Events

Gain new strategies and insights at the intersection of marketing, technology, and management. Our next conference will be held:

April 3-5, 2019: San Jose

September 16-18, 2019: Boston

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

White Papers

  • The Ultimate Guide to Site Search User Experience
  • The Marketing Analytics Buyer’s Guide 2019
  • Mission Possible: Quality Content Marketing
  • 2019 Marketing Trends: Nine factors reshaping marketing and how you can stay ahead of them
  • The Dummies Guide to Enterprise Customer Data Platforms
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • 2019 Martech Trends You Need To Know
  • How to Prepare for a Successful Marketing Analytics Implementation
  • Get More From Your Customer Data With Open Marketing Cloud: A Demo of Mautic’s Marketing Automation Platform
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Account-Based Marketing Tools
  • Enterprise SEO Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
  • Paid Media Campaign Management Platforms
  • Local Marketing Automation Tools
See More Research
Sign up for our daily newsletter.
Search Engine Land
Download the Search Engine Land app on iTunes Download the Search Engine Land App on Google Play

Follow Us

© 2019 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.