Google is testing a revised sticky sponsored-results card that swaps square edges for gray, rounded borders and shrinks the “Sponsored” label to a smaller, thinner typeface. The test builds on a sticky ad interface Google experimented with in September 2024, and follows a related version that went live in October 2025 with a bolder label treatment.
Ad disclosure prominence is the part that matters here. A smaller, thinner label makes a sponsored result look closer to an organic one, which affects how quickly a reader can tell the two apart while scanning. Google has not said whether this design will replace the October 2025 version or how widely it is being tested.
Treat this as one more data point in an ongoing pattern: Google iterates on sticky ad labeling in public tests well before any confirmed rollout. Anyone auditing SERP layouts should screenshot current sponsored-result styling now, so a future rollout is easy to spot and measure against.
Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz reported the test on July 13, 2026.
