Google has made some small tweaks to how information is displayed in its search results, In a move intended to give users access to more information and allow them to more easily identify sources.
First, Google has added website names to individual search results on mobile, with the site name and URL displayed directly above each result’s title. This has been done to allow users to identify the source of a result quickly and easily before they decide to follow the link.
In addition, Google has increased the size of the listing’s favicons, which are the small thumbnail images, logos, or icons, displayed next to each result. This will make branding more visible to users and should encourage companies to focus more on including and optimizing favicons with their content.
Finally, ads displayed at the top of search listings will now be labeled as ads rather than ‘sponsored’, as they have done up until now. This new tag will be displayed in bold, black text on mobile results to allow users to more clearly identify what listings are paid results.
“Part of helping you make sense of the information you see is ensuring that ads are clearly labeled, which is why our label will now be featured on its own line in the top-left corner of Search ads. We also want the label to be prominent and clear across different types of paid content.
“This new label and its prominent position continues to meet our high standards for being distinguishable from search results and builds on our existing efforts to make information about paid content clear,” the company said.
