Google debuts display ads in images search

Google announced the move on Friday. The new commercial format is also likely to be rolled out across its other global markets.

Display ads on Google Images work in the same way as on other sites, and appear in correlation with the page's subject matter and the text entered by the user.

A spokeswoman for Google said the new format would allow advertisers to show commercial content directly related to the user’s query.

She said, ‘We have learned that users find product extension and video extension ads on Google to provide useful information."

The revamped display ads are the latest in a series of recent developments introduced by Google. The company is preparing to roll out a new ad format that will allow UK brands to include videos in their Adwords sponsored search listings.

It has also begun to display Twitter's Promoted Tweets in its real-time search, the first time it has featured ads from another network in its listings.

In July, as part of a redesign of Google Images, the internet giant introduced image search ads, which included a thumbnail alongside the ad text and, from today, the web firm is also testing a rich media leaderboard that appears above Google Images search results.