If you think maps are just for driving directions, think again.
Google is adding graphical advertisements to maps on its local search site, foreshadowing the use of its pop-up balloons for various types of information and activities, an analyst said.
Google Inc. recently began displaying advertising images right on its maps, allowing advertisers to display far more than text. It is the first time any Internet mapping company allowed images to be placed right on the map, as opposed to on the side of the map. Google Maps can be accessed via maps.google.com.
For future generations — conditioned to think visually — maps may just be the starting point for advertisements as well as commerce transactions.
As part of our continuing effort to provide a positive advertising experience for users and advertisers, we are always exploring ways to improve the way we display ads, Google stated, adding: "We are currently conducting a limited test of ads on Google Local." The company declined to offer more specific details.
Google has been testing out the service for the last couple of weeks, according to a blogger, Shimon Sandler, who first noticed the ads, and is accessible through the Google AdWords interface for advertisers on Google Local.
Sandler found that searching for "booksellers nyc" displayed a map with icons of coffee cups where a few Barnes & Noble stores are located. The balloons have the Barnes & Noble logo in them.
The incorporation of images is less about the incremental amount of ad dollars Google can raise from charging its advertising clients extra, and more about how maps can be the starting point for a lot more than just text information and driving directions.
Greg Sterling, managing editor at The Kelsey Group, said Google representatives told him several weeks ago that the company plans to let businesses add advertisements and logos to the mapping balloons that appear on Google Local.
It is a harbinger of more things on maps, such as video, embedded chat and pay-per-call or click-to-call, he told CNET News.com at Kelsey’s Drilling Down on Local conference. "Putting technology in the balloons can enable all kinds of interesting exchanges with merchants."
For example, someone searching for a car could find locations of sellers on a map and instantly ask sellers whether the car is still available, its price and other information, Sterling said.
Currently, red pushpins indicate on a Google Local map the location of unpaid search results. When the red pushpins are clicked on, balloons pop up showing a merchant’s name, address and phone number, as well as information such as customer reviews and a link to the business Web site.
The question is: What can be embedded in maps besides images?
Sterling said these types of ads have potential far beyond simple display images. "The possibilities are great," he said. You could plug e-commerce into this, you could plug video into this, chat, pay-per-call–you could do any number of things that would be really interesting on these modules on a map.
It could be a live-to-chat service, like the one offered by LivePerson, which has been getting a lot of attention these days. Or the map-service providers might be able to add a tab to call merchants directly. This way, the highly anticipated click-to-call model might become reality. To date, the pay-for-click model has been the most popular way for advertisers to pay for potential customers.
Advertisers pay each time a person clicks on an ad. In a click-to-call model, an advertiser pays only when a person calls the advertiser.
Sterling said that the offering does not necessarily put Google ahead, as competitor Yahoo has a similar function on its Maps.Yahoo.com–but it would certainly make their mapping product more advertiser-friendly.
It makes the mapping product more interesting to advertisers and potentially to consumers, who are looking for brands or locations of chain stores, he said. "Even if you are a small business, you can just add a logo."
In January, it first came to light that Google was testing ads on maps. The latest experiments replace the blue pushpins that were being used to indicate a sponsored ad with icons, such as a coffee cup. Google has tested adding image ads in the balloons on a limited basis.
Other Mapping Services:
To date, none of the mapping services provided by Yahoo, Microsoft, Amazon, and MapQuest, operated by Time Warner’s AOL, offers advertisers a pay-per-call tab directly off their informational displays on the map.
But some of the services, such as Amazon.com’s A9, offer a very visual experience by providing actual pictures of an entire block. One difference between Amazon’s visuals and Google’s images on the maps is that a person has to type in an actual address on Amazon’s A9 mapping service.
Typing in a broad category like, "booksellers, nyc" or "coffee shops, san francisco" does not bring up any listings.
Additionally, Yahoo’s mapping services have offered advertisers many options for some time.
Yahoo has been allowing advertising on its mapping product for well over a year, although the new beta mapping product does not feature any ‘on-map’ advertising, said Sterling.
Beyond images, Google, or any map-service provider, might be able to provide advertisers the ability to transact with a customer. For instance, a ticketing office might want to add a tab that allows a customer to buy a ticket with one click.
The difference in what Google is doing is the presentation of the logos/graphics, which is an extension or enhancement of its existing local advertising offering. The ability to add graphics to the ads that appear on the maps on Google will extend to all local advertisers. The Yahoo program is very limited right now, Sterling said.
The possibilities are vast, and the days are still early for those companies that can help advertisers and merchants get to the consumer.
The advertising dollars that went into local search were a little more than $1 billion in 2005 and are projected to grow to $6.2 billion by 2010, said Sterling. Including classified advertising, the total amount of ad dollars going into local targeting will be $16 billion by 2010, he added.
Local Ad IPO:
According to the company’s prospectus, it provides software and media services that enable Yellow Pages Publishers and 411 service providers to expand their traditional service offerings and capitalize on emerging opportunities in the local-search market.
For investors interested in companies that are focusing solely on the local-advertising opportunity, a company called Local Matters filed for a public offering last week. The Denver Company is seeking to list its shares on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol LOCL.
Sterling said his understanding is that Google is not charging advertisers anything beyond what they pay for the keyword bid. "It is a kind of a perk to marketers," he wrote on his blog. "It is also an enticement to advertise."
On Yahoo Local, ads are displayed below the map; clicking in a box next to one of them adds the retailer’s locations to the map.