Ads will now appear in a dedicated area at the top of search results. Google will allow you to hide sponsored results when scrolling.
Google has updated how ads are displayed in search results. Sponsored links will now appear in a separate block called “Sponsored Results,” positioned at the top of the page. According to the company, the goal is to make navigation easier and to clarify the distinction between paid and organic results.
The new section will maintain the same size as the current ads and will no longer display more than four links at a time. When scrolling, users can hide the ad area with a dedicated button.
The company also confirmed that, in some situations, the ad unit may appear above or below AI Overviews, a feature that has been expanding since early 2024.
What changes?
According to Google, the new ad layout “helps people navigate the top of the page more easily.” The redesign is part of a series of adjustments to the search interface, driven by new user behavior, which has led users to quickly scroll through results to avoid AI sections or ads.
The company’s goal is to organize paid links in a more discreet yet visually clear space, avoiding confusion between advertising and organic results. Even so, the change maintains the presence of ads at both the top and bottom of the results page. The sponsored results block can only be hidden after the full results are displayed.
The position of ads relative to organic results and AI summaries should influence the number of clicks and view time. Google has already begun rolling out the change globally across desktop and mobile devices, according to the official statement.
