Finally after all that, we get to the sponsored links aka AdWords ads. Most of the ads ended up being way below the fold in my browser. The screen shot actually show more ads because I hid the nav/link/tool bars on FireFox in order to get a better picture.

Thankfully, from what I can tell this is a layout test, because I tried to duplicate this on two other computers and didn’t see the same SERP layout. My guess is that advertisers are seeing much lower CTRs with this layout. Especially since the video results will probably capture more clicks due to their position and the fact that they basically look like the now banned AdSense ctr boosting trick of aligning images next to the AdSense ad unit.

If this new SERP layout is the sign of things to come, then advertisers in certain niches are going to have to reevalueate their marketing strategies and start to consider adding video to their marketing efforts since from the look of things the sponsored links for certain search phrases are going to be taking a 3rd place spot behind image, video and book search results.

On a side note, although the screen shot doesn’t show it, after refreshing the page a few times I noticed that Google occasionally replace the image search results with premium AdWords ads, but most of the time the top spot had image ads.
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    Who of us would not like to have a passive income, one that we really don’t have to do anything in order for it to make his money on a regular basis.  This used only be a dream but since the Internet came about, it is now a possibility.  As a matter of fact, many people are making an impressive income from their efforts on the Internet, even though they are working a full-time job and taking care of a family.  That is the beauty of all this, you can continue to work at what you’re already doing yet still build a nice business on the Internet.  Here are five different ways that you can use the Internet in order to make passive income.

     Blogging – One of the newcomers to the scene, blogging has really become one of the more popular ways for people to make passive income on the Internet.  It is going to take a little bit of work on your part and from time to time, you’re going to have to add content to your blog.  Once you get a faithful following, however, it is a source of income that is going to be difficult for you to ever stop.  Then again, why would you want to stop it?

     Forums – If you do not have the inclination to start your own website, you may be able to capitalize on the traffic that other websites are getting.  This is what is typically known as forum marketing and if you do it in a sector in which you’re comfortable, it can actually be quite enjoyable.  All that is really necessary is for you to answer some questions and to leave intelligent comments on these forums.  People will follow a link to your website and you would be surprised with the number of sales that you make.

Pay per Click – This is something that is not for the weary but if you have a technical mind, you may be able to make a considerable amount of money on autopilot.  The search engines, including Google and Yahoo have their own advertising programs.  You bid on  search keywords and whenever people search on those words, your ads will show up on the search engines.  This is an amazing way to get targeted traffic to your website and once you set it up, it will continue working indefinitely.

     Article Marketing – If you know how to do keyword research, you can write articles on those keywords and submit them to the article directories.  Using the reputation that these article directories already have in Google, your articles will quickly rise to the top of the search engine results.  This targeted traffic can easily be turned into sales with no further effort on your part.

    Outsourcing – One of the best ways for you to make money on the Internet is by outsourcing your efforts and letting somebody else take care of the dirty work.  If you know how to make income on the Internet, but for somebody that will work for you at a price which will still make it profitable for you.

    One of the easiest ways for people to make money online is by using a method that is known as bum marketing.  Although this is something that many people consider to be new, it is actually quite an old method that has worked steadily for many years.  Thanks to some recent information that was put out about this method, however, people have begun making money in their spare time, even if they don’t have any previous experience with Internet marketing.  What exactly is bum marketing and how can you make it work for you?

    At its very basic form, bum marketing is simply article marketing and it is a method of attracting traffic to a website that is targeted without putting any money into it.  Getting traffic is one of the more difficult things for somebody that is new to Internet marketing to do.  As a matter of fact, a lack of traffic is what causes many people to give up on Internet marketing before they ever really start.  The beauty about bum marketing, however, is that anybody can do it and once you have it set up, it will continue to make you money every month for a considerable amount of time.

     The first thing that you need to do is to identify what kind of traffic you’re going to look for.  For the most part, you need to understand that targeted traffic is the only way to go on the Internet.  People that are searching the Internet for a book are not going to stop by and purchase something from you on a whim.  If you don’t offer them what they are searching for, they are simply going to back away from your website and look for another.  Remember, you are not running a Wal-Mart, you are running a specialty store on the Internet.

    Once you have your product available, typically through an affiliate program, you need to look for keywords that will pull in traffic to that product.  For this, you’re going to need to use a tool such as the Google keyword tool or WordTracker.  What these tools do is to show you what people are searching for on the Internet and often, you can find obscure phrases that are targeted to what ever it is that you are offering.  If the phrase does not have too much competition in the search engines, you will not have a difficult time ranking for it.

     This is where the difficult part comes in.  You need to write articles that are directly related to that keyword phrase.  After they are written, you need to post them on the Internet on article websites, such as EzineArticles.com.  By using the reputation of these websites, your articles will rise to the search engine results quickly and many of them will stick to the top.  People will click through the search engines to your article and ultimately, to your sales page.  That is when the money starts rolling in.