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Google was reported to be testing blue dotted underlines on sitelinks within sponsored Search listings in June 2026. The observation comes from third-party reporting, not an official Google announcement, so it does not establish why Google is trying the style or whether it will become permanent.
What the reported test looked like
On June 10, 2026, Search Engine Roundtable Executive Editor Barry Schwartz reported that some sponsored Google Search listings displayed sitelinks with blue dotted underlines. The report cited observations by Gagan Ghotra, Khushal Bherwani, and SERP Alert. One observer described a “blue dotted underline for the smaller version of ad sitelinks on mobile.” These are observers’ descriptions, not Google’s official terminology. Search Engine Roundtable’s June 10 report
Sitelinks are additional links shown within a search listing. In this reported test, the dotted treatment applied to those links inside sponsored listings; it was not a claim that every sponsored result had changed appearance.
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The available reporting establishes that observers saw the styling, but not Google’s reason for testing it. There is no confirmed purpose, measured effect on clicks or user understanding, accessibility assessment, participant count, or final rollout status in the cited accounts. It is therefore not possible to say whether the treatment is meant to make links easier to notice, change how ads are distinguished, or affect engagement.
Google’s general explanation of Search testing says proposed changes may be evaluated through live-traffic experiments that compare an experiment group with a control group and measure user-interaction signals. That broad description does not confirm that this particular visual treatment was tested in that way or reveal its results. Google reported 16,871 live-traffic experiments, 4,781 launches, and 719,326 search quality tests for 2023; those are Search-wide figures, not statistics for the dotted-underlining test. Google: Improving Search with rigorous testing
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A separate report covered organic result URLs
On June 11, Search Engine Roundtable reported a different set of observations: dotted-underlined URLs and shaded URLs in organic search snippets, alongside the usual appearance. Those treatments concerned URLs in unpaid results, not sitelinks inside sponsored listings. They were reported a day later and should not be treated as one unified feature or rollout. Search Engine Roundtable’s June 11 report
| Observation | Where it appeared | Reported appearance | Evidence status |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 10, 2026 | Sitelinks in sponsored listings | Blue dotted underlines | Third-party observations reported by Search Engine Roundtable; no specific Google confirmation is established. Source |
| June 11, 2026 | URLs in organic snippets | Dotted underlines or shaded URLs, as test variants | Separate third-party report; no specific Google confirmation is established. Source |
How this differs from Google’s announced ads-label change
Google announced a separate Search ads design change on October 13, 2025: text ads would be grouped under one “Sponsored results” label, with a “Hide sponsored results” control. Google said the label would remain visible while scrolling, the ad size would stay the same, and the design was rolling out globally on desktop and mobile. Google’s stated testing rationale—“In our testing, we found that the new design helps people navigate the top of the page more easily”—referred to that 2025 design, not the 2026 dotted-underlining observation. Google Ads & Commerce Blog announcement
The 2025 announcement is useful context for how Google labels sponsored results, but it is not evidence that dotted underlines were officially introduced, explained, or launched.
What Search users and advertisers can conclude
- If you see dotted blue underlines on sitelinks in an ad, the June 2026 reporting describes that appearance as a test observation, not a confirmed permanent design.
- Dotted or shaded URLs in an organic snippet were reported separately and apply to a different part of the results page.
- The available accounts do not establish the test’s reach, duration, market availability, user impact, or outcome.
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