Adwords is dying. It's a slow death, but we can see it happening before our very eyes. The success people are having with Adwords is becoming more and more scarce. "Good" results are not what they used to be. The standards have dropped and so has people's reliance on it. It's been a long time since myself or anyone I knew could rely on any kind of reliable passive income from either advertising with Adwords or displaying ads on their own websites. Heck, even Google seems to be shaving down adwords space in search results in favor of organic and local results. Take a look:

I have to hand it to Google. Adwords is their #1 source of income, generating billions of dollars in revenue. But it's not their fault Adwords is dying. The more tech-savvy people become, the more they know the difference between advertisements in search results and real, organic results when they use a search engine. For that reason, pay per click is dying. The reason that I give Google kudos here is because they know it's dying and acknowledge it, regardless of how much revenue that retain from it. The image above illustrates that clearly. Google has shown us that in the end, the reliability and relevance of their search is their #1 priority. Instead of emphasizing Adwords even more to try and save it, they are attempting to change with the times and remain loyal to their following. My hat's off to them.

My guess is that Adwords will never actually die. It will probably live on in one form or another. Google may even try to reinvigorate it with some new and innovative ways to display advertisements (mobile anyone?) which they are already doing in a couple of different ways. I'm not worried for Google. Ten years ago their search engine had barely become a household name. Now I have a cell phone that operates with it's signature operating system, Android.

Was Adwords ever intended to be Google's flagship product? I don't think so. I think it was always about search. It may not end up that way, but Google has shown that it's willing to stay true to its roots and emphasize usability, relevance, and that special "cool factor" that Google seems to give off without even trying.

It's yet another victory for organic search results - I guess search engine optimization is here to stay.

Special thanks to Fast Company and FC Expert Blogger JD Rucker for the image above.