Internet behemoth Google Inc made headlines this morning with the launch of its Gadget Ads and Mobile Ads in Singapore, the first country in Southeast Asia to offer the new online advertising products.
“We are excited to offer our new Gadget and Mobile Ads in Singapore, because of its high broadband and mobile penetration rates, as part of our ongoing effort to improve our advertising offering and provide innovative new benefits to both advertisers and users here first, then across the Southeast Asia region," said Lori Sobel, Head of Sales, Google Singapore.
Google Gadget Ads are non-traditional ad units with interactive, rich media capabilities that enable advertisers to target audiences in a flexible and timely manner via regular updates within the ad unit and also allow users to engage with ad content in a way static ads haven’t facilitated in the past. Google Mobile Ads are a new text-based ad format that has been successfully tested with AdWords advertisers in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, UK and US, and appear with the users’ search results on a mobile device.
Google, which recently opened its local office in Singapore in May of this year, said that with over 70 percent broadband penetration and over 100 percent mobile penetration rates, the nation is an ideal environment for advertisers to try new ways to reach their customers through interactive online and on-the-go ad formats.
"We are working with many leading brand advertisers who have not only embraced search marketing, but are always exploring new media options to extend their reach beyond traditional customer touchpoints,” continued Sobel.
Currently in an expanded beta with a select group of AdWords advertisers worldwide, Gadget Ads incorporate real-time data feeds, images, video and much more in a single creative unit and can be developed using Flash, HTML or a combination of both. Designed to act more like content than a typical ad, they run on the Google content network, competing alongside text, image and video ads for placement.
They support both cost-per-click and cost-per-impression pricing models, and offer a variety of contextual, site, geographic and language-targeting options to ensure the ads reach relevant users with precision and scale. Gadget ads are also built on an open platform, allowing anybody from individual advertisers to agencies to set up and run ads on the Google content network, the world’s largest global online ad network and will not require any serving or hosting costs.
Google’s Mobile Ads will enable a wider range of advertisers to reach users with relevant information when they are on the go. For example, when users search for ringtones, they may see an ad to purchase or download one of the latest ringtones, directly from their mobile device.
Google Mobile Ads will have the same basic features as PC Text Ads although there are some differences such as the character limit and call feature. The mobile ads, which will be clearly marked '[Ad]', will appear above and below the search results when a user searches on their mobile phone. With mobile ads, advertisers are now able to link users to their mobile website or enable them to call their business directly through click-to-call. The auction bidding model will be based on Quality Based Bidding, while Mobile and Text Ad keywords will not bid against each other.
Google also said that while the launch of Mobile Ads introduces a financial component to its mobile roadmap, the company continues to be primarily focused on providing users with relevant information for their mobile experience. |
