Google has released the new search engine result page design onto the desktop after it has been tried and tested on mobile devices for some time now.
Google previously introduced organic favicons and black ad labels back in May 2019. Now this has rolled out to desktop devices, meaning the search results look very different from a few weeks ago.
What’s it mean for SEO and PPC?
Favicons now become more important, as it is displayed in the search results pages.
The site name and bread crumb is in black text displayed alongside.
The big change with the ads means they are much more difficult to spot in comparison to organic results.
The new black labels replace the old green ones. The black ones fade in a lot easier, and do not stand out as much as they did previously.
So, the outcome is that people will be more likely to click on an ad, perhaps not realising it is an ad. It is more difficult to tell where the ads finish and the organic listings begin, as the black ad label and favicon blend similarly and seamlessly.
What’s next?
Google is likely to continue testing different variations.
After feedback, Google decided to experiment further and see how favicons play out in the future.
At the end of the day, this design has already been tried and tested on mobile devices.
But the fact it is now on desktop devices means that you may see changes in traffic due to the favicons, ad labels and overall the entire interface changing.
It’s worth monitoring your PPC and organic traffic closely, as well as your click-through rates to see if these changes make any difference. No doubt this will evolve as more people get used to the changes Google has made.