In a move that will have more than a few people shaking their heads, Google has renamed text advertising that appears next to search results to simply ''Ads''. Previously, the AdWords listings were referred to as "sponsored links".
Search Engine Land editor Barry Schwartz reported the change earlier this week, after reporting last month that the search engine giant was testing out the new label. A Google spokesman told Mr Schwartz the change had only been made to English language domains, but would be rolled out globally.
''We are always experimenting with the look and feel of our search result pages, including the delivery of relevant advertising. This is on English language domains now and rolling out to all languages and domains,'' he said.
The move won tongue-in-cheek praise from Techland writer Harry McCracken, who called the change ''fabulous''.
''Bravo to Google for erring on the side of clarity rather than obfuscation. Other Web sites: Please take notice and imitate,'' he said.
The ''Sponsored Links'' label remains on all other Google properties such as Maps and Gmail.
Image Credit: Search Engine Land
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