Google is testing a reduced number of Product Listing Ads showing at the top of the search results.  While we usually see 6 items, and often a carousel, seeing only three items is a bit unusual, especially when there are more products available that could be shown.

What I find most interesting about these is that when there are only three ads, the added white space really makes those 3 PLAs stand out significantly more than when you compare the same one with 4-6 images instead.

Compare with the same size PLA unit with 6 items instead of just 3.

They also seem to display as three on the right sidebar, but since that is usually only 4 products wide, it isn’t as significant.

Google tested the 3 item PLAs back in May, but it seemed to be a limited test.  It might be bringing them back