Google is always keeping us on our toes, and the latest in Google’s testing; images in sitelink extensions or “visual sitelinks”. This update was recently spotted on mobile devices as Google seems to be in the early stages of testing. The new visual sitelink extension will now display images with sitelinks in a swipeable carousel.
This isn’t the first time Google has tested out image extensions in AdWords. In fact, Google tested images in ad results back in 2013 but never released them. And more recently, Bing Ads has brought their own version of image ad extensions, which may have given Google the motivation to try them out again, but this time in the form of sitelinks.
Previously sitelinks were displayed in text only list format. With the new visual sitelinks, Google Ads will display a carousel of sitelinks each with their own unique image. The new sitelink image carousel isn’t the only thing being updated. Just last week Google changed the display format of price extensions from a list to a swipable carousel.
This update is still in the early testing stages so we will be curious to see how the new visual sitelinks perform compared to the standard text links.