An issue is causing too many ads to show at the top of Google’s search results.
The issue. The search engine is showing five sponsored posts at the top of SERPs, when there should only be four, for some queries. For example:
SERPs error. Marketers raised the ads display issue on X (the platform previously known as Twitter), noting that Google has historically said that it only displays four ads at the top of search results pages.
Is Google showing five ads now? No.
Google’s policy hasn’t changed. Something is wrong on Google’s end, according to Ginny Marvin, ads product liaison at Google.
Why we care. We wondered whether Google had increased the number of ads at the top of SERPs, from four to five, on purpose. But now we know that isn’t the case. Rather, it is just the latest stumble for the Google Ads platform.
What has Google said? Marvin said the error is being addressed, via X:
- “Thanks for bringing it to my attention. This is is not working as intended and we’re working to address it.”
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
Postscript. It turns out, this wasn’t a bug on Google’s end but Chrome’s. Upon turning off Chrome extensions, the issue resolved.
Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. The opinions they express are their own.
