Have Google lost their AdSense?
Some of Google’s search results pages in the UK are no longer using the old pale yellow background colour for displaying it’s AdWords ads into and are now using a more expressive green ad format. I would not go so far as to say that this is a case of old Google ad colour vs new ad colour but I must admit that I have often felt that the old format was a little too subtle and perhaps a little too understated for a great majority of internet users and has certainly been so to an even greater degree in the past. On this note, I like the new format for two reasons:
- The fact that the paid search ads have become more pronounced will only increase the level of transparency that was previously lacking between the visitor, the middle-man and the trail of cash that those prominently poised spots go for.
- The colour suits the more colourful nature of the new search page. It’s still ‘friendly of them’.
These changes are quite big for the search giant, known to be reluctant to make many changes to their search page design.
If this were a question of old AdWords colours over new AdWords colours though, I would imagine an extremely swift switch-back to the yellow if it dents their bottom-line. Nothing is more important for Google than its profit margin.
Is Google turning to the ‘bling side’?
Will we miss the old Google search pages? Will we miss the yellow? If it works for Google by yielding similar or higher results for them then I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t keep it or any other colour. After all, click-through rates are all that it’s about. Just imagine what goodies Google could mine if they temporarily allowed users to personalise the background colour of the ads displayed to them…
Video of the difference in AdWords background colour
Recorded and uploaded with the HTC Desire: