Yes, yes I believe it is.
Where?
Are you refering to the dilbert cartoon?
Yes.
How is it an advert? It’s a cartoon. If you click through, you can buy a mug where the proceeds are donated to charity.
Nope, not really an ad. Besides, the “sponsored links” have always been there after you search, right?
If it was an ad, what would it be advertising, anyway? Scott Adams? United Feature Syndicate? Your local newspaper?
It’s part of a “Redesign the Google Logo” contest.
What’s wrong with the logo? It’s fine the way it is.
Since Google paid for it to be there (in T shirts and a mug) instead of being paid to put it there, it isn’t an ad.
Google shows ads all the time. They’re just not so obnoxiously in-your-face.
Google shows ads in discreet boxes to the side of the actual results, and in obviously sponsored ‘special’ results in bold above the real results.
The results themselves are untainted by advertising. This is simple common sense: Google knows that it is trusted, and that any revenue it gets is because people trust it enough to use it. It knows that geeks use it, forsaking all others, and that geeks have a low tolerance for BS. Especially if that BS ruins a good tool.
Google knows it is replaceable. Being replaceable tends to sharpen the senses, focus one on the task at hand. For Google, this is providing quality search results.
So, yes, that is an ad you see. But it is not a distraction or a blemish or a disruption of the service.