AdSense Corners The Ad Format

Web 2.0 design aesthetics have caught on with the AdSense team. Google has made new options available for tweaking the shape of the ad units.

“You’ve long been able to customize the size and colors of your ad units; now, you can also customize the shape by selecting between square, slightly rounded, or very rounded corners,” Google’s Teo Wickland wrote at the AdSense blog.

The update represents the ongoing work at Google to continuously improve their signature advertising product. With ads representing virtually all of Google’s revenue, anything that enhances their ability to keep that stream flowing merits a look.

It has been a common practice for site publishers to have their ad units match the colors and fonts of their online content. Many do away with borders entirely, to increase the likelihood of people clicking on ads.

Google updated the overall look of the AdSense ad units in April 2007. Dividing lines between ads vanished, and the “Ads by Google” text moved from the top left to the bottom right of the ad unit.

Now those corner-adoring publishers can go edgy or bubbly with their ad units. For the indecisive, a slightly-rounded option can be deployed. The AdSense Setup management screen contains the controls for making a well-rounded selection.

Google hopes everyone using AdSense likes the new look of their ad units, as there won’t be an option to go back to the old ones.

"Although it’s not possible to opt out of the new designs, we hope that you and your site visitors will find our new ad formats clearer and more attractive," Leslie Chiang said on the Inside AdSense blog.

The lines between ads have been removed, and the ‘Ads by Google’ phrase now appears in the lower right corner of the ad block. After testing the refreshed ad units, Chiang said Google has found AdSense has greater visual appeal to viewers. "They also perform even better for publishers and advertisers."

Colors and fonts won’t be changed as the new ad units rollout through the AdSense Network. That should be a relief to webmasters who may have feared some rapid code work would be required of them. Matching colors and fonts to one’s site tends to help ad performance.

Naturally the move has rapidly attracted opinions, some going deeper than the superficial changes. ZDNet’s Donna Bogatin wondered when the company’s founders lost their philosophical way:

What happened to the Sergey Brin and Larry Page infamous advertising is evil in search theory developed while idealistic Stanford students?

A little evil is good for the (Google) bottom line.

Here is the new look; click it for a full-size view, and drop a note in the comments about it on your way out: