Google’s Expandable Mobile Ads Come With Maps, Too

On the Edge of Technology

Google’s Expandable Mobile Ads Come With Maps, Too

Posted on 2010 under Communications | No Comment

30 Jul

With the introduction of iAd, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) challenged the major players in mobile advertising to come up with the most creative mobile ad units. The more they expanded to reveal pictures or video, the better. Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has announced a new ad format today that expands to reveal a map, detailing directions to the advertiser’s nearest location. To boot, it won’t cost anywhere close to $1 million to get started, according to Surojit Chatterjee, Google’s senior product manager of mobile ads.

The ads will be found on both mobile websites and within applications on higher end phone models, such as the iPhone and on Android devices. They’ll start as a banner ad, and then users will be able to tap an arrow to expand. A map of the businesses’ nearest location will appear. It also shows a click-to-call link. Another link allows you to click to get directions by opening Google Maps. Chatterjee: “It’s a very attractive format; you don’t have to jump anywhere to see where the business is. You don’t have to leave the app or the site to view it.”

The ad format leverages something that has already been really successful at Google. Mike Steib, director of emerging platforms at Google, who participated in our recent paidContent Mobile event in New York, said the click-through rates for its click-to-call mobile ads perform 6 to 8 percent better than search ads without a number or URL associated with it.

Besides offering a competitive expandable ad offering to iAd, Google has two other reasons why advertisers will like this format: It’s cheap and easy. The map is created automatically for anyone who has uploaded all of their business addresses in Google Places or AdWords, and has opted into high-end mobile campaigns. Likewise, advertisers will only pay when a user clicks on a phone number or website URL; they do not pay for the ads to be expanded or for giving directions. The cost is the same as Google’s regular cost per click auction rates.

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