Google Testing Black Links instead of Blue

[Ryuzaki]

Google has begun split-testing Black links instead of Blue links.

And on mobile:

This is an interesting topic if you've ever dug into it. My favorite part of this story is how Bing settled on their blue. I suspect they started with blue since that's the classic hyperlink color, but they split-tested tons of shades of blue. You wouldn't think something like that would matter at such precise levels, but they settled on #0044CC, which ultimately was an $80,000,000 annual boost in revenue over the control shade of blue.

It wouldn't surprise me if Google tried something like keeping their blue for ads and black for the SERPs for a little while, seeing if they can draw more attention to ads. That'll quickly create ad blindness though. Could result in some quick cash.

This shows the importance of a design method that creates fewer variables that can be split-tested as well. It's easier to make more money with your current traffic than to earn more, especially when you're already at the top levels.

 

[Calamari]

If anyone is doing adsense on their site this is worth testing. Let the links you want people to click be blue and the rest match your font.

 

[CCarter]

I saw this the other day and thought I had a virus on my computer or my monitor was screwed up. I ended up restarting my computer thinking it was the problem.

 

[animalstyle]

Noticed this today, new to me they are also testing a green ad callout:

vs the standard yellow

The green definitely blends with the link and makes the ad callout standout less.

 

[Andrewkar]

I remember that adsense ads in black color were working really good for my site. They were blending nicely with site content, and it was opposite to what one could see almost everywhere - ads screaming LOOK AT ME !!

 

[Golan]

I've been using black links in Adsense for years.