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Google visually engaging customers

Google is saying it's new ads will help advertisers visually engage their customers and be more relevant to Web site users.

In a key departure from its text-only advertising strategy, search engine leader Google said Wednesday that will it begin to accept the banner-like image ads that are common on other parts of the Internet.

The ads will appear on Web sites that carry Google advertising, not on the main Google search site itself.

"The idea is to help make advertising better and to make it more informational,'' said Tim Armstrong, Google's vice president of advertising sales.

Google's core business is selling ads on its own Web site alongside search results. But a sizable chunk of its revenue comes from selling ads that appear on other Web sites through a program called AdSense, where Google uses its technology to match the ads to the Web sites' content.

The AdSense ads typically appear grouped together inside boxes that run horizontally across the top or bottom of Web pages or vertically down the sides. About.com, IVillage and the New York Times are some of the larger Web sites that carry AdSense ads.

Some advertisers have viewed AdSense as less effective than placing ads on Google's main search site. Many advertisers have concluded that people using Google's search tool are more likely to be in a buying mode than someone perusing an online news story or reading a Weblog.

``The click-through rates were not as good,'' said Ron Belanger, vice president of search engine marketing for Carat Interactive, whose clients include Radio Shack and Hyatt Hotels. ``When the user is in that non-search mode, you need that extra oomph to grab them. My hunch is that this is going to put the AdSense product back in the game.''

Google said advertisers will be able to choose text or image ads, and Web-site owners can choose which type of ads to display.

Web-site visitors may not always see image ads, even if the Web-site owner has chosen to accept them. Google may alternate between the two types of advertising depending upon which kind receives the most clicks.

``We'll keep showing both until we determine which one performs better,'' said Salar Kamangar, a director of product management at Google.

Google's reputation has been nurtured in part by its repudiation of banner advertising, which many Internet users find annoying and intrusive. Indeed, at a time when the online advertising industry was suffering through a slump, Google demonstrated that small text ads that are relevant to search results or a Web site's content could appeal to both users and advertisers.

Although the new image advertising will not appear on Google's own Web site, the fact that the Mountain View company is now selling banner ads may alienate some users, observers said.

``It's kind of scary that Google is moving into a medium that they helped crush,'' said Andy Beal, vice president of search marketing for WebSourced. ``It's almost like they switched sides. They're saying they won't cave into the pressures of Wall Street. But I can't think of any other reason to do this other than to make money.''

Beal also questioned whether the image ads would be more effective than text ads.

``People got used to the fact that banner ads are a pain,'' said Beal. ``People have gotten used to tuning out banner ads. I don't know how Google thinks they can revive the perception of banner ads.''

But online advertising experts said Google likely realized that text advertising has its limits.

``The human mind gets quickly immune to things, and at some point they stop paying attention to text ads,'' said Roy de Souza, chief executive of Zedo, a San Francisco company that sells Internet advertising. ``But with graphical ads, there is variability as far as color and what not that you can do to appeal to people.''

Source: Kansas.com

Posted by nakul at May 14, 2004 11:18 AM | TrackBack