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In September, Google added blue arrows to AdSense mobile ad units. They stuck around and publishers learned to enjoy the large blue call to action on their ads.
Now Google is bringing a similar arrow to the desktop based Google AdSense ads. Google announced they are enhancing their ads by adding the following:
- Improving font size
- Improving spacing
- Improving padding
- Updating text layouts
- Adding a clickable arrow icon
Google said that during testing this they noticed an "uplift in clicks across publishers on the Google Display Network."
This is rolling out this week and you should see the new ad designs soon.
Forum discussion at Google+ and WebmasterWorld.
Comments:
Robin331
12/04/2012 05:36 pm
google want more money...
hGn
12/04/2012 08:12 pm
They look terrible with the super huge PLAY button
David
12/05/2012 05:51 pm
The arrows may work at first but ad blindness will be at an all time high in the not too distant future, big arrows are easy to avoid and people will avoid them after they click and land on a stupid site or three. UGLY - that's how I describe the multi arrows in one unit idea. Should have been optional, typical Google.
Martin
12/14/2012 08:42 am
New adsense image icons are utterly ugly. I think Google is trying to make more money in expense of good user experience. I did not expect it from Goolge. So cheap.
John
12/14/2012 08:44 am
May be CTR would increase but the websites will also loose their visitors.
Bike Tour Buzz
12/19/2012 09:12 pm
I'm convinced these arrows drive a lot of UI confusion. They looked like a next button. The clickthroughs on leaderboards have gone through the roof on my site since they introduced these....
Mehh Griffin
12/20/2012 08:51 pm
This is completely true and they are working very good, isn't it what everyone wants? So, why complaint now? People just love to complaint for anything, never is happy.
Joe Blowder
12/28/2012 08:22 pm
My earnings have been cut in half, dammit! How dare they? When you finally get the right placement and you're making good money, you DON'T want anyone to come fecking CHANGE anything!!
CDCH
02/25/2013 09:47 pm
These new ad arrows are fooling people. Especially on photo sites were they have been placed as the "next photo" slideshow arrow. This is now a big problem on many of the photo sites. I thought this was illegal according to Google placement polices??? I guess not? This is a good example. The visitor is herded to the ad arrow now... http://www.terragalleria.com/large-format/country-lf.france.html
CDCH
02/25/2013 09:49 pm
Bingo! You are correct. I have clicked on many wide ads thinking they would show the next page or photo.
Sherry Ann Morgan
04/25/2013 05:10 pm
So true, we added the new extra large leaderboard to our landing page at http://claja.com and our visitors are hoarding it as a next page button. I have sent feedback to Google in fear that they may see it as a error on our part, but it is the only ad space on the page... went from a 1.6%CTR to 18%, it's unreal, don't know whether to leave it alone or take it down.
CDCH
04/25/2013 07:28 pm
"went from a 1.6%CTR to 18%" Just like Google stock shares!