Google to greatly expand ad options: pay per impression and specific site placement coming

According to reporter Kevin J. Delaney in today’s WSJ article “Google to Target Brands In Revenue Push” Google is expected to announce that they are giving advertisers more control over pricing, graphic/animation options and where their ads appear.

The goal is to to bring in more big-name advertisers, as they are less likely to be interested in the search-centric system google offers today. The assumption is is that Web surfers are not likely to “shop” for product information that many big advertisers would benefit from. How many people type in “laundry detergent” as a search term? Even if they did, could Proctor and Gamble leverage that into sales? Unlikely.

According to TNS Media Intelligence, U.S. advertisers spent over $140 billion last year. Jupiter Research says online ads were just six percent of that, and less than one third were search-related ads. Apparently many expect search ads to explode as a medium for corporations over the coming years. The chief innovation officer at Publicis Groupe called the market a “$50 billion-plus opportunity” and predicted it will prompt companies to shift their ad budgets from television and magazines to the Web. A Jupiter analyst disagrees that a sizable shift will occur.

Google will now let advertisers run animated display ads on non-Google content sites, and will allow advertisers to go beyond keyword specific placements. Through an auction process, advertisers will be able to specify the sites where they want their ads to appear.

We’ll be covering this topic in depth at the next Blog Business Summit. Let us know where we should host it.