Google Search Ad Testing

Google (re)tests search ads in a carousel format

Google Search Ad Testing

You will have seen shopping ads in carousel format, but have you seen search ads as a carousel within the SERPS? First spotted in 2019 on mobile by SEMrush, then again on desktop in 2020, we are interested to see them pop up again on a UK mobile search.

One of our eagle-eyed team spotted them again on a search for ‘Mothers Day Gifts’, so it seems that Google hasn’t seen conclusive results to enable them to decide whether to roll them out or not.

Text ad carousel

What do we think?

There are mixed views amongst our team at the moment, with the general feeling that they make the SERPS look cluttered. However, it’s never down to a confirmation on whether the visual is pleasing, but about the data within the results that informs change.

One positive point is it will provide advertisers like us to have more real estate to play with.

Heading Testing

We have seen a variation of headings before the carousel. Previously we saw “People also search for” and now “People also consider”. Back in 2018, we saw this version with only headings shown in the “People also search for” section:

Screenhot1

We are likely to see a few more variations with the testing before this either gets canned or adopted.

One thing to be sure about is that they are popular for Google Shopping and we will keep an eye out to see if these become a long term option.

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