October 6, 2008 11:49 AM PDT
Google begins testing image search ads
Google has begun showing ads next to image search results. (Click to enlarge.)
(Credit: CNET News)As it promised to do, Google has begun testing ads shown next to image search results.
Google Blogoscoped and TechCrunch carried screen shots from readers showing the new tests, and Search Engine Land added a shot of a banner ad as well. Now I'm seeing the image ads too.
Google's cash cow is its ability to display small text ads next to search results, but the new examples include pictures as well. That could be more distracting or more useful, depending on how you see it, but Google insists that it'll place the ads only in a way that adds to the user experience, one measurement of which is that people search more often.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
