Google’s recent decision to remove the ads from the right-hand side of the search results’ pages has raised a few eyebrows among the search community.

Google maintains that its main consideration is to improve the user experience and relevance of the results page and, at first glance, it would seem that this change is one that actually isn’t driven by increasing profits.

How could they possibly benefit from shrinking the advertising space from 11 potential clicks to six?

Well, firstly, Google isn’t doing away with all the ads on the right hand side.

The official announcement said: “Ads that have previously shown to the side of the results may in some cases appear below them.”

We can assume that Google will judge the impact on paid traffic for each keyword, much in the same way that it has assessed the need for a Top three ad box in the first place.

If total paid search click-throughs fall drastically for high-volume terms, you can bet your daily budget that the side ads will be back quicker than you can say ‘first page bid estimate’!

Broadly speaking, the change will further blur the line between natural and sponsored results, as the results page becomes one standardised list- something that extended PPC headlines and sitelinks have already started to do.

The move will also make room for more advanced results - shopping, maps, hotels - what else might Google use the space for? A different form of paid-for advertising?

The impact on advertisers could be profound. Even before the ad space starts disappearing, this news will inevitably cause many Adwords managers to unnecessarily increase their bids to ensure a position at the top of the page.

Beyond that, the CPC for high-volume terms will undoubtedly increase as brands clamber for a coveted top three position.

But what about those whose campaigns rely on generating a large amount of relatively cheap traffic from position four and below? Will Google’s claim that ‘ads at the bottom performed better than side ads in terms of click-through rate’ really ring true?

The actual impact on the cost of traffic remains to be seen but if Google ultimately intends to generate more advertising revenue from considerably less advertising space, it can only be  bad news for smaller brands whose PPC budgets will inevitably start delivering less clicks.

Plus with more advertisers joining AdWords every day as other channels dry up, it’s becoming more apparent than ever that a PPC-only approach is not a sustainable long term strategy for driving traffic.