You Can Now Hide Sponsored Ads in Google Search
Did you know you can customize Google to filter garbage? Follow these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source.
Google sponsored ads are usually annoying. Not only are they often irrelevant to what you’re searching for, but they can sometimes be malicious: You may think you’re clicking on a legitimate link for something you’ve searched for, but you’re actually heading somewhere else entirely. With all the new AI components Google has introduced in recent years, it’s increasingly difficult to get the search results you’re actually looking for.
But there’s some small good news on that front: As The Verge originally reported, Google’s sponsored ads are getting a little less annoying. Previously, these ads appeared one after the other, each in its own “Sponsored” header. Going forward, you’ll only see a single “Sponsored” header, with all sponsored links listed below. And the best? Once you scroll to the end of this content block, you will have the option to collapse all of these sponsored links, thereby hiding all ads from your search view.
This is a small but useful change for anyone who is tired of dealing with Google’s often frustrating sponsored ads with every search they perform. Google makes a lot of its money from search ads, so the company will never get rid of them completely. But giving you the option to hide them, even if you only see that option after scrolling through all the sponsored ads, is a step in the right direction.
What do you think of it so far?
Of course, if you choose to use an ad blocker, you will never have to worry about sponsored ads appearing in searches. Hell, if you’re already using one, you might never have known about this change in the first place. But ad blockers aren’t for everyone, and they can hurt small sites that rely on ad revenue to operate, even if they protect you from malicious (and annoying) ads.
If you choose not to use an ad blocker, thanks to these changes, navigating your Google search results can be a real challenge. little a little better, at least.
