New Adwords AD symbol

Symbol is now an outline - Less Visible

[lgn1]

Maybe this is a Google test, or this is something specific to Canada, but the new Google AdWords ad symbol, identifying ads is now an outline in green, and not filled in.

Since we dropped SEO years ago, and now use PPC for a much more stable income, this is great for us.

This is not great for those in SEO, so my condolences.

Anybody else seeing the non-filled AD symbol, or have seen it before today?

[Dimitri]

Excuse my ignorance , but how is it something bad (or good before) for SEO ?

[not2easy]

Maybe the green outline signifies https links?

[robzilla]

this is great for us.

Only if it actually affects your CTR positively. Have you noticed a change?

Anyway, here's a screenshot: [imgur.com...]

Hard to say if it stands out more or less.

[lgn1]

Excuse my ignorance , but how is it something bad (or good before) for SEO ?

It's my understanding that Organic performs better than Adwords, with everything else equal.

Maybe that is no longer the case.

If the AD icon reduces clicks, then it would probably be in Google best interest to eliminate the AD icon once and for all.

[aristotle]

then it would probably be in Google best interest to eliminate the AD icon once and for all

Instead, why not just make it so pale that it fades from view like the Cheshire cat, but officially it's still there.

[NickMNS]

Why show organic results at all? Pay to play all the way!

[Dimitri]

>> Why show organic results at all? Pay to play all the way! <<

and this should save Google big money not to have to operate a web crawler...

[lgn1]

Why show organic results at all? Pay to play all the way!

Nick, I realize your comment was sarcastic, but I really agree with the words you type.

The AdWords I bid on is targeted towards people who are ready to buy. They are dominated by me and my three competitors for Adwords and followed by 10 organic listings which are also my competitors, as they have used SEO to target buyers for free, and these listings are targeted for people who are ready to buy. So, in fact, all the search results are Ads, it's just that 10 of them are getting free advertising.

I have no problem with this, as SEO is a lot of work, and your position on the first page can disappear with no recourse. With Adwords, you have full control of placement, so this is the price that AdWords advertisers pay. We are paying for consistency and stable income.

Since we are all advertising, yes let's get rid of the stupid AD symbol.

If customers don't have their wallet out, then they will use different search words, which will be more organic in nature.

[NickMNS]

@Ign1 if all you have is ads, then no one will trust the content. This is as much true for Google as it is for any other publisher. If no one trusts Google, then no-one uses Google, then no-one advertises on Google. High quality organic results are essential to Google's success, it is the only value they provide to users. Dulling the line between ad content and organic content is dangerous proposition, I doubt that Google could be so short sighted. But that does not mean that they should not try to experiment to try to find the optimal cut-off.

I find those outlined ad symbols more noticeable than the full green ones, but that's just me.