Dive Brief:
- Google users will start seeing changes to search results with the addition of tweets to desktop searches, which had already begun showing up in U.S. mobile searches since May.
- The search giant is also said to be testing video ads in search results.
- Google has been revamping search to make it more interactive and recently added “buy” buttons to ads served through its network.
Dive Insight:
Google is shaking up its search results with a couple of key, interactive changes. Tweets have been appearing in U.S. mobile searches since May, but they will now also appear in desktop searches. The Internet giant is reportedly testing video ads in search results, a move that further illustrates the growing importance of video advertising for digital marketers, particularly on mobile devices.
In other recent Google news, it began adding “buy” buttons to ads served across its platform through a feature called “Purchases” that initially is being released for limited merchants and only served in the U.S. for now. Google is also introducing an Android pay feature that will work with in-app and in-store purchases. Combining these two features could streamline mobile shopping for users who find what they are looking for via search.
When Digiday pressed Google about whether it had any current plans to introduce search video ads, the tech company would not comment, but did say, “We’ve experimented with a number of different video search formats over the years but don’t have anything specific we’re launching right now.”
All of this news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Google will be folded into a brand of a larger entity named Alphabet. Google as marketers know it will still be the core Internet and ad business, which it seemingly looks to double down on, beginning with these search updates.