Back in October we reported that Google has confirmed its search ads, Google Ads, can show up mixed in the middle of the organic search results. Now Google is updating its help documentation to change the definition of top ads to say the ads may appear below the organic results, ultimately not making the ads appear at the top.

A Google spokesperson told me, “We updated our definition of top ads in our Help Center to better reflect how ads can appear in Google Search today. This is a definitional change that doesn’t affect how performance metrics are calculated.”

Google updated the top ads help document to now say:

This help page now references top ads and says:

Previously it said:

Ginny Marvin, Google’s Ads Liaison, posted about this on X adding:

Google also told me that as ads placement continues to evolve on search, Google said it will remain dedicated to connecting advertisers with users interested in their products and services.

Here is the screenshot from last October showing Google search ads in the middle of the search results page, and not at the top of the page:

Here is some of the reaction:

Forum discussion at X.