Google has been on the receiving end, most of the time, when it makes a few changes. This time the mockery came as the search engine giant recently added bubble ads to select Google Maps locations. The users are given a choice to create a new ad space, but it has only caused controversies. Reason for the same was that a number of business owners were concerned about the potential for reputation warfare and poorly targeted ads.
Some might be confused, regarding the new ad space, so here is a brief on what it is and who would it effect businesses. Laura Alisanne earlier this month, reported the ads on Google Maps. Alissan noted that the ads were now appearing on local business listings, below the place location in the standard info bubble.
Mike Blumenthal, noted that Google might have been planning the same for quite some time now. He even stated that he had a birdy news earlier which he heard in “early September of Adword Account Reps instructing large Adword clients to take out ads in Google Maps in anticipation of this rollout.”
The concerns raised with this new form of ads, were basically in two distinct ways. First was that, ads may cause undue trouble for locations on Google Maps. Second was that, the ads themselves will be poorly and even inappropriately targeted. The concerns are detailed below.
Any company, would not want to leave out on a new opportunity to monetize its bank balance, and Google is no exception to the case. But like many other Google up-gradation issues, this introduction even calls for a few peculiar issues.
The first one notes that this ad scheme would now make it possible to advertise directly against a competitor’s physical location, or even pitch a philosophical viewpoint that contradicts one’s own location. Blumenthal worked on tracking down an unusual example of this problem. The example seemed to be like a gay rights advocacy, which appeared on the NYC diocese of the Catholic church. One can have a look of this amusing example below:
That was not all, a few businesses were shouldered with the responsibility to place ads defensively to prevent showing off a competitor.
Blumenthal spared his part of anguish, noting that the likely increase to bid cost, the unwanted exposure for competitors, and the disrespect for locations, should be given some freedom from commercialism. For instance, churches and memorials, all constituted a shameless act on Google’s part.
This raises a call for Google even, as they face a challenge of targeting ads correctly. That would only add to the problems Google has been facing already. Some might think that the search query for the Maps search will be useful and the context of the location itself points to a general direction, but the fact is that Google lacks the contextual data that makes display ads effective.
The problems don’t end here. Even if Google is successful in targeting ads correctly in many cases, the lack of details allows competitors to more easily showcase ads (as mentioned above). Additionally, it even decreases the ad’s effectiveness for advertisers. At least in this regard, this seems like a situation where nobody wins.