Google Gadget Ads – Google cashes in on craze they helped build

According to comScore, about eighty-seven million people used a “widget” or “gadget” in June. The little applications that offer anything from RSS readers to the latest jokes are a popular trend. Google, MSN, Yahoo, and AOL all offer some form of “widget” for your browser or website and now Google wants to turn the trend they helped create into a lucrative cash generating market. Google announced this morning the launch of Google Gadget Ads, a new ad format that is currently in an expanded beta with a select group of AdWords advertisers worldwide. According to Google, Gadget Ads is a non-traditional ad unit with interactive, rich media capabilities… “Not only enable advertisers to target audiences in a flexible and timely manner via regular updates within the ad unit, but also allow users to engage with ad content in a way static ads haven't facilitated in the past.” Gadget ads can incorporate real-time data feeds, images, videos, and more in a single unit and is developed using Flash, HTML or both. The Gadget Ads look and act more like content than a typical ad and they run on the Google content network. This means the Gadget Ads are competing alongside text, image, and video ads for placement. Supporting both cost-per-click and cost-per-impression pricing, they offer a variety of contextual, site, geographic and demographic targeting options, Google explained are designed to ensure that the ads reach relevant users. “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,” Google adds. This is not the first time a company has used “widgets” to increase advertising revenue. The AP reports that online photo-sharing startup Slide Inc. in San Francisco launched an attempt to include advertising in its widgets last month. So far, they have become the most widely viewed ads on the Internet, according to Media Metrix. Slide is relying on users to choose ads and feature them in their widgets. Feedback from preliminary beta participants, including brand advertisers such as Pepsi-Cola, North America's Sierra Mist, Intel, Honda, Six Flags, and Paramount Vantage has been overwhelmingly positive. "New and cutting-edge advertising opportunities are always of interest to Intel," said Stephanie Dillard, global marketing manager at Intel. "Google Gadget Ads provided a unique and efficient means to further promote our Centrino Duo campaign. Our goal was to enhance visibility and engagement with the consumer while taking in key learnings of Google's evolutionary advertising offerings. We look forward to utilizing the interactive gadget ad format with our new ‘Chips' campaign that shifts focus back on the processor." The new format is live to select testers in the Ad Sense network, and is expected later this year for a full rollout.