Google AdWords Yellow “Ad” Icon Spotted On Desktop SERPs In UK

The bold yellow “Ad” icon that started showing up in Google search results on smartphones in September, now appear to be  getting a test run in the UK. This weekend, Ashley Williams, SEO Project Lead at Summit Media in the UK, noticed the icon appearing in the SERPs for every query he performed on his […]

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The bold yellow “Ad” icon that started showing up in Google search results on smartphones in September, now appear to be  getting a test run in the UK.

This weekend, Ashley Williams, SEO Project Lead at Summit Media in the UK, noticed the icon appearing in the SERPs for every query he performed on his desktop. Here is what it looks like:

Google yellow ad icon in the UK across devices

 

In the new design, the yellow shading behind the ads is gone and a thin gray line separates the top set of ads from the organic listings, and the yellow icon is displayed at the top of the right rail ads. The “Ads related to [search query]” is also gone from the top of the ad set.

For quick comparison, here is a desktop SERP  for “shoes” in the US from today:

google desktop serp nov 4 2013

It’s not known how widespread this test on desktops is, and it doesn’t seem to have been spotted in the US, yet. Are you seeing the “Ad” icons in your SERPs?

Update: Many have commented below and via Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to let us know the yellow icons are showing on desktop searches elsewhere, including  in the US. The mobile test that began in September appears to be fairly widespread at this point based on feedback.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Ginny Marvin
Contributor
Ginny Marvin was Third Door Media’s former Editor-in-Chief (October 2018 to December 2020), running the day-to-day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin wrote about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, MarTech and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.

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