For some reason that already seems foreign and half-forgotten (my interest in interior decor is slightly dim) I was just searching for ‘brooklyn oak’ and noticed this result in the PPC:

It took me a second to cotton on, but then I realised that the ads were pulling through Google Product review scores, and links through to the reviews as well (indicated by the stars).

I’m a bit out of touch with AdWords these days, so I don’t know if this is new but it’s certainly the first – and so far only – time I’ve seen this.

Either way, we’re seeing an increasing number of Google innovations that serve to keep visitors on Google itself rather than getting through to the relevant page. Think about Google cinema listings or site searches. The reason for that is pretty obvious – more chances to serve ads (a recurring theme of late)

One thing’s for sure – however much Google might want to play footsie with social media their plan as is revealed to us on a daily basis is still serving search-based ads. All well and good, but is this constant rollout of things-to-make-you-stay-on-Google-and-look-at-ads starting to degrade the overal experience of Google?

Sure – we’re a long way from the days of entirely sponsored results or sites entirely hosted on Google but I’m beginning to wonder how much further they can push this without turning into nothing but an ad channel.