Big changes for Google Adwords rolling out. Sponsored links no long appearing in the right sidebar and the number of spots have been halved. Read more here: Big changes for Google sponsored links. Or simply test it out for yourself, only 6 spots, 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom.
Asked about on the Google forums: Looks like its a test, but equally a little worrying if thats something there planning to do.
Google is exploring new ways to earn more money and I believe cutting down the sponsored positions half to the original numbers would definitely increase the competition level and hence would increase the cost for those positions that would help Google filling his pocket.
Test, test, test - I wouldn't expect any less from Google. The difference is bound to be slight, else they would've already known it would do better. I predict the end result will be a mix - some keywords have top + right, and some just have top - depending on the level of competition, the Max CPC and the existing CTR. And Google will keep the formula secret.
Hmm ok its definitly a test but i can see this rolling out sometime this. From a guess it would be way more profitable for a lot of expensive terms.