Size, quantity and management capabilities: How Google updates AdWords to increase revenue

Abstract

Google's primary source of revenue comes from paid search advertising, and it makes regular updates to make ad units more prevalent and attractive to searchers in order to invite more clicks. The vast majority of these updates can be categorised as changes to the size of ad units, the volume of ad units, and/or ad management capabilities afforded to advertisers. This paper explores the impact of Google's most significant recent changes in these areas, using Merkle advertiser data from some of the largest online brands to quantify the effects. It also offers insight into how Google is likely to expand advertising traffic in the future.