Google Apparently Testing Domain Names In AdWords Headlines

By Pamela Parker

Published: May 5, 2011 at 7:25 am

Google seems to be testing a new variation on AdWords display, showing the landing page domain name at the end of the headline, after a short vertical line. The apparent experiment appeared in the top three ads in the center of the page on Google.com, but isn’t showing up for most users.

Screenshot by Nilaye Thakrar

The variation was spotted by Search Engine Land reader Nilaye Thakrar, search engine marketing manager at Canadian job search site Workopolis.

Google regularly conducts experiments of different AdWords displays, measuring performance and, if the results are good, rolling them out widely. Recent changes to the display include showing the domain part of the landing page URL in lower case letters, and a more horizontal look, which was spotted in the wild before being officially announced.

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About the author

Pamela Parker

Pamela Parker is Research Director at Third Door Media's Content Studio, where she produces MarTech Intelligence Reports and other in-depth content for digital marketers in conjunction with Search Engine Land and MarTech. Prior to taking on this role at TDM, she served as Content Manager, Senior Editor and Executive Features Editor. Parker is a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since its beginning. She's a former managing editor of ClickZ and has also worked on the business side helping independent publishers monetize their sites at Federated Media Publishing. Parker earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.