Bing Now Tests Clearer Separation of Paid & Free Search Results

Bing is testing a clearer distinction between its ads and organic free listings. This involves a visual differentiation where the ads are displayed on a white background, while the free organic listings are shown on a gray background.

Bing is conducting tests to improve their ad disclosures because, historically, Microsoft's disclosure of search ads on Bing has not been very transparent, often being considered worse than Google's disclosures. The aim is to make it easier for users to distinguish between paid advertisements and free organic search results.

To see the new ad disclosure test being conducted by Bing, you may need to replicate specific steps as it might not be visible to all users. Frank Sandtmann was able to spot this change and shared it on Mastodon. You can look for more examples or discussions on Mastodon to get a glimpse of the test in action.