Google Testing Removing Line Separator Between Search Ads & Organic Search Results
Google is testing removing the divider between the ads and free listings in the search results. Will it lead to more searcher confusion?
Barry Schwartz on March 26, 2015 at 8:48 am | Reading time: 1 minute
Google is testing not displaying the line break or line separator between the search ads at the top of the search results and the organic/free listings below the ads.
Frederik Hyldig, a reader, emailed us screen shots, which we cannot currently replicate, but we know Google is constantly testing user interface changes. In addition, we know Google tested bolder separators between the search ads and organic results about two months ago.
Here is an animated picture (GIF) showing the results with and without the line separator:
Are you able to replicate this?
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Barry Schwartz is a technologist and a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics.
In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land, in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here and in 2023 he was listed as a top 50 most influential PPCer by Marketing O'Clock.
Barry can be followed on X here and you can learn more about Barry Schwartz over here or on his personal site.
In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land, in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here and in 2023 he was listed as a top 50 most influential PPCer by Marketing O'Clock.
Barry can be followed on X here and you can learn more about Barry Schwartz over here or on his personal site.