Rachel Maddow Of MSNBC posted on Twitter that she is switching from Google Search because Google is hiding its search ads, jumping the page all around and when you click on something, it triggers an unwanted ad that opens in a new window. This, to me, sounds like typical malware that overtakes the computer and is not coming from Google's end.
Here is that tweet:
Oldster here. As dependent on Google as anyone.
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) May 4, 2021
But! this belligerent new thing where search results jump down the page to make room for un-labeled ads, and then when you click a result, google instead opens a new tab with an ad you weren't trying to click...
Grrr. I'll switch.
We've seen reports of this before and covered how there can be malware or bad browser extensions causing this. There is little Google can do to stop a computer with malware from changing its search results. Here is what it looked like in 2018:
Danny Sullivan from Google responded on Twitter saying "We don't have "unlabeled" ads. Any ad in our Search results are labeled. Happy to see an example of what you're concerned about here to pass on to the team." He added "none of this matches with how we serve ads. They're labeled. They don't jump into results after the results have been generated. The new tab stuff sounds odd."
Again, Rachel Maddow most likely has some some type of computer virus.
We don't have "unlabeled" ads. Any ad in our Search results are labeled. Happy to see an example of what you're concerned about here to pass on to the team.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) May 4, 2021
Yes, none of this matches with how we serve ads. They're labeled. They don't jump into results after the results have been generated. The new tab stuff sounds odd.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) May 4, 2021
Forum discussion at Twitter.
