Google will now automatically account for spelling errors or search variations of search queries with respect to paid search ad placement.

In its Inside AdWords blog, Google announced it will begin automatically adjusting misspelled search terms and queries to paid search results. Any user who enters a query with a misspelling or other variation on a common term will be returned relevant, correctly spelled paid search results.

Currently, Google applies this practice to its organic search results. Starting in mid-May, users who misspell a query or enter a singular or plural form of certain terms will see results most likely relevant to their search in both paid and unpaid listings.

According to Jen Huang, Google’s AdWords Product Manager and author of the blog post, the company’s initial test resulted in 7 percent more clicks on average. Providing users with what is essentially autocorrect is more likely to deliver results relevant to their query. As Brafton has reported, marketers have talked about this feature (as it has applied to organic listings) as a threat to certain longtail keyword strategies.

Unlike branded content results that may crop up in organic “autocorrected” results, companies using PPC that do not want the automatically adjusted variations and misspellings to yield their results can opt out in their settings.

With its current dominance in search, adjustments such as this will help Google continue to deliver high-quality results to its users. Brafton recently reported that Google fielded more than 66 percent of search queries in March.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.