Google has been mixing sponsored ads within its organic free search listings since October 2023. Eventually, Google said this is called dynamic ad placement, and it has become the new Google Search. Google has been doing this with the image search results as well, at least for a year. But now it is being called about by the famous, educated and wealthy Paul Graham on X.
Paul Graham shared a screenshot of the image search results for [patek 2573] where it showed a couple of sponsored ads listed within the organic results. Paul wrote:
Google has started mixing ads right into the middle of image search results. It decreases search quality dramatically. Now when you search for images of a watch, you get watches that aren't even from the same manufacturer. I've actually switched to Bing for some searches.
While this is not new, it is finally being spotted by others with a bigger reach. Influencial folks like Paul who not only call this out but also suggest to their following to switch to Bing can make some sort of impact.
Here is his post:
Google has started mixing ads right into the middle of image search results. It decreases search quality dramatically. Now when you search for images of a watch, you get watches that aren't even from the same manufacturer. I've actually switched to Bing for some searches. pic.twitter.com/lbicB3sO4a
— Paul Graham (@paulg) June 15, 2026
I mean, you can search for anything on Google Search or Google Image Search and get ads mixed in, even soccer balls:
The old Google would never do this but I said this countless times. I am glad others are finally starting to notice outside of our little search marketing industry.
Forum discussion at X.
