Google experiments with double ad placements for same advertiser

Google is testing a feature that allows the same advertiser to appear twice on a single search results page, which seemingly breaks Google’s own existing ad policies.

What’s happening. Anthony Higman, CEO of ADSQUIRE, noticed two ads from the same advertiser appearing simultaneously in search results (SERPs) over the past two weeks. He shared his concerns on LinkedIn.

This conflicts with Google’s stated policy:

• “We’ll show only one ad per account for a particular keyword.”

Google’s response. Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison, clarified that this is part of a controlled experiment to test new ad configurations.

She told advertisers:

• No immediate action is required.
• The experiment’s outcomes will be evaluated based on advertiser and user value.

Why we care. Google’s double-serving test could impact competition and ad performance. It could also potentially alter the cost dynamics of search ads. With multiple reports already showing that costs of search ads have been increasing, this is a real concern to ensure that having multiple ads showing for a keyword actually comes with increased revenue and not just cost.