Change in the digital realm is rarely instantly popular. Of course it’s true that plenty of UX design changes face backlash, especially early on. But the company ignored repeat requests for comment. We reached out to Google to ask for a response to the latest criticism that the new design for search results makes it almost impossible to distinguish between organic results and ads. Google’s new look for mobile search results puts site owners and publishers first (Albeit, the slow drip of design change updates also works against mass user outcry.) And there will likely be more now - given the visual flattening of the gap between ad clicks and organic links looks even more confusing for users of Google search on desktop. That made it “harder to differentiate ads and search results,” as we wrote then - predicting it will “likely lead to outcry”. But it did so while simultaneously erasing a box-out that it had previously displayed around the label ‘Ad’ to make it stand out. And where to click to get actual information starts to feel like a total lottery.Ī lottery that’s being stacked in Google’s favor because confused users are likely to end up clicking more ad links than they otherwise would, meaning it cashes in at the expense of web users’ time and energy.īack in May, when Google pushed this change on mobile users, it touted the tweaks as a way for sites to showcase their own branding, instead of looking like every other blue link on a search result page. But on a desktop screen these favicons are truly minuscule. This visual trickery may be fractionally less confusing in a small screen mobile environment - where Google debuted the change last year. Now a user of Google’s search engine has - essentially - only a favicon between them and an unintended ad click. Yet, read it again, and Google is essentially admitting that a parallel emphasis is being placed - one which, when you actually look at the thing, has the effect of flattening the visual distinction between organic search results (which consumers are looking for) and ads (which Google monetizes).Īnother eagle-eyed user Twitter, going by the name Luca Masters, chipped into the discussion generated by Mod’s tweet - to point out that the tech giant is “finally coming at this from the other direction”.Ĭolor fade: A history of Google ad labeling in search results /LMYqhmgfyE If you read the text quickly you’d likely come away with the impression that it has made organic search results easier to spot since it’s claiming components of these results now appear more “prominently” in results. Here’s a mockup: /aM9UAbSKtvīut Google’s explainer is almost a dark pattern in itself. That’s now rolling out to desktop results this week, presenting site domain names and brand icons prominently, along with a bolded “Ad” label for ads. Last year, our search results on mobile gained a new look.