Google is testing black links in search results

Several Twitter users report that they are presented with a page of black search results when using Google’s search function. It looks like it’s an A/B test.

The alternate color has been available to certain users for a few days now. Most see black; some to give shows different shades of blue. Many users react negatively to the change. It is unclear whether Google plans to actually change the color of search results, it is most likely an A/B test.

In such a test, users of, for example, a website are shown two different variants, whereby it is kept track of which version produces the best results, for example because it generates more clicks. According to The Guardian, Google is more likely to run these kinds of tests with a small group of users before deciding to make large-scale changes.

For example, when Gmail was introduced, the company tested 40 different shades of blue and noticed that people clicked more often on a blue that tends to purple, the newspaper reports. This decision would have brought the company about $200 million, according to the managing director of Google’s British division. In China, for example, Google has red links.

The black variant of Google