If you look at what Google web search looked like 20 years ago and how it looks today, you can see some significant changes. Some things have even been changed several times over the years. Search filters were always found in other places, the sidebar was often readjusted and the decoration in the representation of the SERPs itself was sometimes stronger and other times weaker.

Now is the next big step: Google wants to adapt the design of the desktop web search more to the mobile display and will therefore, use the icons that have been there for a longer time and also for the desktop search. As with the mobile search results, each result also receives the icon of the respective website in the desktop search. This is a great measure for branding if you use such an icon as a website owner. But not only the use of icons should come, but also the display of the advertisements will be changed. They are prefixed in bold with the short word Ad and since only this one word is shown in bold in the entire web search, it should also attract a lot of attention.

As is so often the case, the design is not released to everyone at the same time, but gradually rolled out. As some reported, they had had these changes for a few weeks, so they apparently belonged to the test group, but are now seeing the “old” display again. Different opinions on the new design can also be heard from this test group. Some found it positive, the others weren’t really enthusiastic about it. But whether you like it or not – Google is consistent here and brings the mobile and the desktop search closer together and thus goes the way that was long announced. For webmasters, it is now definitely important to use a Favicon to take the branding effect with them and thus be better perceived in the search. Together with the title and description, this can in the best case increase curiosity about the website and motivate the visitor to click.