Initially the change began only for mobile device shoppers back in November 2019, but as of June 30th, Shopping Ads have received more prominent Ad labeling on the main search results page.
There was a time when consumers may have not even known that they were looking at, less clicking on Shopping Ad units on Google when perusing wares on their laptops or desktop computers.
Yet, just a few days ago, the good ol’ – and somewhat obscure – “Sponsored” tagging was done away with on the main Google search results.
What you may have had previously seen on Google:
To what you see now:
What’s more, Google has even enhanced that little “i” info icon for Shopping Ads, giving consumers even more information on why they might be seeing the ads.
Even more however, this new panel gives consumers more and easier control over their ad display settings – even a simple toggle to say NO MORE from a specific retailer:
No Change to the Shopping Tab
What was not immediately apparent in some of the news coverage by the likes of Search Engine Roundtable and even Search Engine Land was that the new Ad labeling only happened on the main Google search results.
Checking in on the Shopping tab, where you will now find the majority to be those Free Product Listings announced back in April, the Sponsored label still remains at the very top – the only distinguishing characteristic separating Shopping Ads from Free Listings and even Buy on Google aka Shopping Actions results:
