Google Search now lets you hide all sponsored results
What's the story
Google is rolling out a new feature in its search engine that will give users more control over sponsored results by hiding them. The update comes as part of the company's effort to improve user experience by making it easier for them to navigate through their search results. The change comes after criticism over how closely paid search results resemble organic ones.
New design
All sponsored results grouped under 1 section
The new feature will group all sponsored results into a single section at the top of the page, with a larger and more visible "Sponsored" label. This way, users can easily identify paid content. However, unlike before, where each paid result was individually tagged with "sponsored," this update requires users to scroll past these results before they can hide them.
Enhanced navigation
'Hide sponsored results' button added
The update also gives users more control over their search experience. A "hide sponsored results" button at the bottom of the section lets users collapse it and hide sponsored links from view. However, tapping this button will only hide the results under that specific "Sponsored" heading, not remove them entirely from future searches. If you want to see these results again, simply tap on the same button to expand them back into view.
AI integration
Integration with AI overviews
The new sponsored section and hide button will be integrated with AI Overviews, which will continue to be a major part of Google Search. These overviews will appear above or below the sponsored section as they have been doing for some time now.