Google’s ads just look like search results now
2Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2020/1/23/21078343/google-ad-desktop-design-change-favicon-icon-ftc-guidelines
Reported today in The Verge.
Google's ads just look like search results now
Last week, Google began rolling out a new look for its search results on desktop, which blurs the line between organic search results and the ads that sit above them. In what appears to be something of a purposeful dark pattern, the only thing differentiating ads and search results is a small black-and-white "Ad" icon next to the former. It's been formatted to resemble the new favicons that now appear next to the search results you care about. Early data collected by Digiday suggests that the changes may already be causing people to click on more ads.
The Guardian's Alex Hern is one of many commenters to point out the problem, noting that there's now next to no visual distinction between ads and search results. "There is still, technically, *labelling*, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that it is supposed to be difficult to spot at a glance where the adverts end," he tweeted.
I would argue there is now no visual distinction between ads and results. There is still, technically, *labelling*, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that it is supposed to be difficult to spot at a glance where the adverts end. pic.twitter.com/qjUmisbLER
It's especially striking considering how distinct Google designed its ads in the past. Up until 2013, the search engine gave its ads an entirely different background color to distinguish them from its organic search results. But even after that, it continued to use unique colors that effectively let users quickly see where its ads ended and organic results began.
In a blog post announcing the new design when it came to mobile last year, Google partially explained the change by saying that adding favicons to organic search results means that "a website's branding