Google testing green “Ad” labels in UK (and beyond)

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 Update: A Google spokesperson has confirmed, “This is a small test, and we’re always exploring ways to label ads clearly on Google across mobile and desktop.”  The German Google AdWords Twitter account tweeted that the test is affecting about 5 percent of global traffic.

Google appears to be testing a new color for the “Ad” label on text ads in the SERP. Several users in the UK are reporting that the “Ad” labels now match the green color of the display URLs in Google text ads.

Mark Weller of K2L Marketing was among those who noticed the switch.

Noticed a change in how our #GoogleAdWords ads are looking this morning in the SERP @adwords #SEO #SEM pic.twitter.com/BQ78wvVAf9

— 𝕸𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕬𝖓𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖞 🏳️‍🌈 (@Markantweller) April 14, 2016

As was Alex Velinov from Tag Digital.

Some test are going on in @adwords. Now we can see Ads labels in green. How that will affect CTR? #ppcchat pic.twitter.com/eTjpdCNlP3

— Alex Velinov (@alexvelinov123) April 14, 2016

That’s a change from the yellow “Ad” labels that Google has been using since it first introduced the icon in 2013. 

At this point, the test appears to be limited to the UK, and the green labels aren’t showing consistently at all. Update: I spoke too soon — shortly after posting, a reader sent the screenshot below from the SERPs in Hungary, and Mario Wentzel tweeted it’s showing in Germany, so it’s not just being tested in the UK. Update #2 5:30 pm 4/14: I’ve heard from people in Central and South America that green has been spotted there, and now the green has been seen in the US. (See the tweet below.) So this test is pretty ubiquitous — though I have yet to get to see it live.

Green spotted in Germany:

@sengineland @ginnymarvin the same goes for Germany pic.twitter.com/Zs8AZOibVs

— Mario Wentzel (@mariowentzel) April 14, 2016

Green showing in Hungary:

And the green test comes to the US, spotted here by Trevin Shirey:

https://twitter.com/tjshirey/status/720722719273328640