Ads on the Google Maps site are now displayed on the left side of the pages, either or both above and below the results list. To clearly separate the ads from the results, the ads are generated in blue, and labelled with “Advert” [de=Anzeige]. In addition, Google is also now allowing ads to appear directly in the map views – whereas regular search results are marked in red, ads are given the option of various special symbols, which are then also linked visually with the text link at the left.

On each results page, a total of 4 Adwords Ads are displayed, with one above, and three below the search results.  The latest innovation is that now the three lower ads can also be displayed under the map view, and therefore in the center of the page.  However, only one of the three lower ads is ever visible at one time… one can navigate to the other two ads using an arrow button.

The reasons for these new measures probably came as a result that most users usually only saw the upper search results, and the lower results are certainly viewed less often, if at all.  With the addition of the results directly under the map, Google is trying to compensate for the lost views, by raising these ads effectively to display higher up on the page.