Google is changing the way ads appear on its search results page. From now on, all the text ads at the top of the page will be grouped in a new “Sponsored results” section. The company says the new design will “help people navigate the top of the page more easily.”
The new sponsored section will never have more than four ads. Once you scroll past it, a new button will appear, allowing you to hide all the ads. This is a nice new feature, but it also means you’ll have to do a little more scrolling to get to the actual, non-sponsored search results.
The change is a response to the growing clutter at the top of the Google Search page. With the recent addition of AI-generated summaries, the top of the page is getting crowded. Google even said that this new sponsored box might appear either above or below the AI summary, adding another layer to scroll through.
And just in case you scroll too far, Google is also adding another “Sponsored results” section at the very bottom of the page, which you won’t be able to hide.
The new design is rolling out now to both mobile and desktop users around the world. It’s a subtle change, but one that could have a big impact on how we all use Google’s famous search page.
