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Comment by Deimorz | Hacker News Reader

Looks like the "Ad" indicator has almost evolved into its final form now. There's not even any color distinction any more, and they've put it in the same location as normal results' favicons, which is a spot that people will become blind to very quickly.

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I was just going to mention that I don't like when designers put these system-specific icons in a place where user content can also go. Someone can just use a favicon with a black "Ad" text and it will look just like Google's own ad indicator, which then becomes a candidate for phishing or at the very least can mislead users into thinking they are clicking on vetted ad content. The previous design where there was a dedicated location for the "Ad" indicator is clearly much better. I am surprised by this change.

While I agree with you in principle, the idea that Google Ads are carefully vetted and not in fact a teeming mass of malware is already an overly optimistic view that you should be disabused of.

Maybe in the future it will become a giant link-farm. Google is slowly becoming the kind of site they used to ban from their own search results not too long ago.

The final form will be when every piece of content they serve is an ad, removing the need for a favicon in the first place.

Agree, but I think it is still better than before, because of the color differences to the headline.

I still would prefer a true Icon.

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