We knew it was coming and now it is live, well, almost fully live. Google is now officially rolling out the favicons and black ad label search interface on desktop. Google has been testing it for months and months on desktop after it launched in mobile search in May 2019. Now it is live on desktop as well.
New user interface with black ad label and favicons:
Old user interface:
Don't try to have fun with the black ad label, Google has guidelines around what favicons you can use or not use and will penalize those that play games.
Here is Google's announcement:
Last year, our search results on mobile gained a new look. That’s now rolling out to desktop results this week, presenting site domain names and brand icons prominently, along with a bolded “Ad” label for ads. Here’s a mockup: pic.twitter.com/aM9UAbSKtv
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) January 13, 2020
Site owners can indicate a preferred icon they wish to have appear next to Google Search listings as explained here:https://t.co/RtpBOlThbz
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) January 13, 2020
Rand Fishkin thinks this is a way for Google to increase CTR on the Google Ads. Well, everyone thinks that but he showed data from previous changes that shows this will happen.
I personally do not like favicons in the search results.
Forum discussion at Twitter and Local Search Forums.
