Google is backtracking on desktop search redesign which made it hard to distinguish ads from organic results, will experiment with favicon placements

The company says it will experiment with favicon placement — Google is backtracking on a controversial search engine redesign …

The Verge 2020-01-25 Nick Statt

Context & Ripple Effects

Google's desktop redesign followed a template it had already tested on phones: the 2019 mobile redesign gave every organic result a favicon with a black "ad" label for paid links, and the company then ported that visual language to desktop. The result drew immediate criticism as a dark pattern that blurs ads and organic results, and within days Google is now walking it back.

The backtrack also lands on a longer arc: since Google removed right-rail AdWords ads in 2016, paid listings have been concentrated at the top of the page, which is exactly where the new design made them hardest to tell apart from organic results.

First-order effects

Desktop searchers get a reprieve: Google says it will experiment with favicon placement specifically to make ads easier to distinguish from organic results, undoing the most-criticized element of the rollout.
Advertisers whose top-of-page placements were blending into organic results regain some of the labeling clarity that separates paid clicks from earned ones.

Second-order effects

Every future Google results-page experiment now carries the dark-pattern critique as a known constraint — design changes that compress the ad/organic distinction can expect public backlash fast enough to force reversal within days.
SEOs and site owners watching favicon treatment have fresh leverage: Google's willingness to iterate on placement signals that how a site's icon renders next to its listing is now an actively negotiated surface rather than a fixed rule.

Third-order effects

If the pattern holds, ad-labeling clarity becomes a recurring battleground between Google's monetization design choices and user/regulator scrutiny, with each retreat setting a precedent that paid-vs-organic distinction cannot be quietly eroded.
The episode reinforces that Google's search interface is no longer changed unilaterally at scale without a feedback loop — criticism cycles now function as a de facto review step in the rollout process.

The trend: Search-result design is becoming a contested interface where Google's ad-blurring experiments increasingly meet organized pushback that forces visible reversals.

Discussion

@searchliaison @searchliaison on x
Last week we updated the look of Search on desktop to mirror what's been on mobile for months. We've heard your feedback about the update. We always want to make Search better, so we're going to experiment with new placements for favicons....
@searchliaison @searchliaison on x
Here's our full statement on why we're going to experiment further. Our early tests of the design for desktop were positive. But we appreciate the feedback, the trust people place in Google, and we're dedicating to improving the experience. https://twitter.com/...
@searchliaison @searchliaison on x
Our experimenting will begin today. Over the coming weeks, while we test, some might not see favicons while some might see them in different placements as we look to bring a modern look to desktop....
@searchliaison @searchliaison on x
An important update! We've heard your feedback about the look. We always want to make Search better, so we're going to experiment with new placements for favicons on desktop. Please see here for more: https://twitter.com/...
@killedbygoogle @killedbygoogle on x
🎵🎤🎵 'Cause you're hot then you're cold You're yes then you're no You're in then you're out You're up then you're down We can't get search right it's black and it's white We fight, we break up We kiss, we make up 🎵🎤🎵 https://www.theverge.com/...
@carlhendy Carl Hendy on x
Does anyone have any good reasons to use favicons? The world was meant to be using “voice search” this year but yet we've gone back to using 8-bit pixelated images 🤷‍♂️ https://twitter.com/...
@gfiorelli1 Gianluca Fiorelli on x
The “how to optimize your fav icon for SEO” instant guides and “tactics” must have been one of the shortest living ones of the SEO world 😂😂 https://twitter.com/...
@modestproposal1 Modest Proposal on x
Why is it still ok to do it on mobile? Because mobile is where the majority of the ad dollars are? https://twitter.com/...
@jenn_elias Jennifer Elias on x
NEW: Google tells us it's rolling back its new search redesign. Legislators and users alike are already scrutinizing the company's redesign for blurring the lines between paid and organic content that shows up in search results. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@paulobrien Paul O'Brien on x
Good. Google needs to abide by the standards it sets for its third party adsense partners, this confusion of ads and content was not true to that. I spent a LOT of time having this conversation with them some year back as a top tier adsense partner! https://twitter.com/...
@glenngabe Glenn Gabe on x
Whoa, Google is experimenting with changes to the desktop SERPs based on feedback from users. That's great to hear. Eager to see the tests, and what the final rollout looks like. :) https://twitter.com/...
@cyrusshepard Cyrus on x
Me throwing away my Google favicon optimization post: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@marie_haynes Marie Haynes on x
Before the featured snippet change, and before the core update we had changes with favicons now displaying in desktop search. And now Google is making further changes to favicons. It's unclear what though. Confused yet? https://twitter.com/...
@kerrymflynn @kerrymflynn on x
Google “said when a user clicks on a Google Search Ad, the company wants it to be because the ad looked relevant and useful, not because it was confusing.” Oh ok. Cool. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@artemr Artem Russakovskii on x
Google is changing the desktop favicon nonsense after user revolt. GOOD. Though let's see what the changes will actually look like. https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Some good stuff in here beyond Google's announcement. Digital ads folks tell @megancgraham and @jenn_elias that they've seen an increase in ad clicks since the controversial design change. https://twitter.com/...
@starfire2258 Sean Hollister on x
a single image that explains why I think this change would be good https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Google backing away from search redesign that made it tough to tell regular search results from ads. Says it will “iterate” on the design now. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@starfire2258 Sean Hollister on x
Good. But by how much? Entirely unclear. https://twitter.com/...
@backlon Dieter Bohn on x
Here's @nickstatt on Google's proposed changes, which amount to experiments about where or whether to place favicons. https://www.theverge.com/...
@backlon Dieter Bohn on x
Google is backtracking on the desktop search results redesign after the backlash this week. Expect your search result pages to start looking different as they experiment at scale with new placements. https://twitter.com/...
@alexhern Hern on x
I would argue there is now no visual distinction between ads and results. There is still, technically, *labelling*, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that it is supposed to be difficult to spot at a glance where the adverts end. https://twitter.com/...
@lutherlowe Luther Lowe on x
I'm surprised this is only now getting so much attention. Google made this tweak on mobile (which represents 65% of search volume) last May & posted a huge Q2 beyond the street's expectations. Exploiting consumer confusion is easier than innovating.🤷‍♂ ️ https://www.techmeme.com/…
@rajsarkar Raj Sarkar on x
What has happened to @Google? This was not the Google I knew. This is preposterous from a customer/user perspective. Imagine my grandma searching on Google - she will never know what that “Ad” moniker stands for. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! https://twitter.com/...
@gerryconway Gerry Conway on x
Has anyone else found Google search less and less useful for quick research? I end up scrolling past the top “results” automatically now because they're all ads. Filtering ads from actual results is becoming a ridiculous chore. https://www.theverge.com/...
@shiraovide Shira Ovide on x
I lke to click on the Google search ads for brands I don't like, and the organic results for companies/people/brands I do like — to save them the ad dollars. Is this just me? https://techcrunch.com/...
@pogue David Pogue on x
Google has redesigned its search results so that it's harder to distinguish ads from real results. Whatever happened to “Don't be evil”? https://www.theverge.com/...
@tariqkrim Tariq Krim on x
It is no coincidence that Google blurs the line between content and advertising in its search results. This is the world we now live in: Content is advertising, and advertising is content. https://www.theverge.com/...
@laurengoode Lauren Goode on x
Google's ads look just like its search results now. But supposedly this is better for the user 🤔 https://www.theverge.com/...
@modestproposal1 Modest Proposal on x
the final step in morphing from a search engine into an ad engine is making search and ad results indistinguishable https://twitter.com/...
@bgurley Bill Gurley on x
@modestproposal1 20 years ago when they were still being compared with Yahoo search, Google demonized this activity, using the derogatory phrase “paid inclusion.” As this Wikipedia listing notes, Google already stepped into this muck in shopping, and other search types. https://e…
@rsarver Ryan Sarver on x
Let's make all the search results look as awful as the ads so that you can't tell the difference (and it will probably work unfortunately) https://twitter.com/...
@onejarednewman Jared Newman on x
It's so evil for Google to blur the lines between ads and search results using favicons! That's why I'm switching to DuckDuckGo, which ... does exactly the same thing. https://www.techmeme.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
everything Google does is to do with ads. 90%+ of the company's entire revenue is related to its ad empire. Maybe this is a clever counter to the EU's AdSense and Shopping rulings 🧐 https://twitter.com/...
@reneritchie Rene Ritchie on x
I wonder if obfuscated search ads with top-of-list placement will also eat into clicks that used to go to actual content (since people don't realize they're ads), reducing organic search traffic and creating more pressure to pay to play? Almost Facebook-ian. https://twitter.com/.…
@eliasmakos Elias Makos on x
THIS. Zero trust in google search results now. Run, don't walk over to @DuckDuckGo https://twitter.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
The only reason to make search ads look like search results is to trick you into clicking them. It's gross https://www.theverge.com/...
@pomeranian99 Clive Thompson on x
The evolution of how Google differentiates ads in its search results: They started off brightly marked by a color-shaded background, but that design morphed until they look, today, quite like regular results, save for the word “Ad”: https://techcrunch.com/...
@craigmod Craig Mod on x
There's something strange about the recent design change to google search results, favicons and extra header text: they all look like ads, which is perhaps the point? https://twitter.com/...
@mcmillen Colin Mcmillen on x
i absolutely hate this design change and it legit has me trying out other search engines between this and AMP, Google seems to be on a quest to pretend that URLs don't exist https://twitter.com/...

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