Google Debuting New Ad Classes in Mobile Environment

Despite the buzz surrounding the growth in mobile advertising, the growth in mobile ad spend has actually been inching up a lot more slowly than the overall growth in mobile users. Though this could be due to a variety of factors, some of it could be attributed to the fact that mobile brand managers are not as comfortable with the format. Indeed, certain types of mobile digital advertisements (like those meant to generate brand awareness and engagement, for example) do not lend themselves well to the extremely simple, text-based mobile ads that are most prevalent in the space.

To fix this, Google is rolling out a new class of ads aimed at recreating a more interactive advertisement experience on mobile devices, one that specifically meant to appeal to branded advertisers that want to engage their users through relevant, non-intrusive content-based advertising methods. Examples include Tru-View type ads that occur in "natural pauses" in app use (such as when users swipe from screen from screen) and ads that anchor against the bottom of the screen, staying in view as users scroll through text. Google is even offering interactive mobile units that include pictures, slideshows, and videos within advertisements. The idea here is to recreate advertising ecosystems reminiscent of those on TV, where ads do not interrupt or overlay content but occur in natural breaks that users are used to (think advertisements appearing in TV commercial slots rather than over the actual video itself, like they do on YouTube). Like its classic PPC ads, advertisers would only pay if a user clicks on an ad to expand it, interact with it, or go to its linked destination.

The end result, Google hopes, will be a more personal, less intrusive advertising experience that will prompt branded marketers to spend more on mobile environments and platforms. I think this is a pretty interesting development, as it signals Google getting serious about expanding its reach beyond classic search-based advertising into more interactive mobile kinds. Obviously Android provides a platform boost here, and a few of the new designs they are offering are somewhat reminiscent of the Flash-based animated advertisements or games found on PC's for a while.

Ultimately, this is part of Google's attempts to make advertising on mobile more user and marketer-friendly. However, I think Google is underestimating the backlash from users. True, some of the new ad formats will allow more "interactive" ads - but do users really want to have to thumb through slideshows from advertisers? Some of the new ad formats are meant to be more "TV-like," but the mobile environment is much smaller and usage is much different. People accidentally click on ads due to small screens, they regularly multitask on multiple apps and screens. It's going to be very tough for marketers to validate that the dollars they spend on these new formats actually represent tangible engagement, because the ways that users behave on mobile is so much different than how they behave on other channels.

Source: http://adage.com/article/digital/google-bringing-brand-friendly-ads-mobile/295176/