Mountain View, California-based Google has given advertisers using its popular AdWords program the ability to display the same ads they run for desktop audiences on the Apple iPhone, T-Mobile G1 or any other mobile device with full Web browsers, the search engine giant announced Monday. The change will allow users of AdWords, Google's lucrative ad management program that shows small ads alongside search results, to choose between showing users of the iPhone and other phones with full-fledged browsers the same ads that desktop users see, or instead versions specifically targeting those devices, a choice that is expected to allow advertisers a way to test which ads work best for users of leading edge phones. AdWords Users Get New Performance-Measuring Reports Google said the new AdWords mobile advertising options will help advertisers find the type of ads that are most successful at targeting people using iPhones, and similar mobile devices such as those running Google's Android mobile operating system. "Advertisers will be able to display ads exclusively on these mobile devices, create campaigns for them, and get separate performance reporting," noted Google mobile advertising product marketing manager Alexandra Kenin in a message announcing the AdWords changes posted Monday on the company's mobile blog. The changes made mobile advertising more accessible to AdWords users, as the Google program will offer the mobile-targeting options to all AdWords account holders, who will automatically have their desktop ads shown on iPhone and similar phones unless they are already using mobile-specific ad campaigns. Under the AdWords program mobile ads differ from desktop ads, or platform-specific ads as Google has called them, in that they require a special version of a Web page for mobile users. "If you're currently running our mobile ads, this new option for desktop ads does not affect your campaign," Kenin wrote of the AdWords changes in the Monday announcement. The large majority of Google's 2007 $16.6 billion ad sale revenue came from AdWords sales, and the changes announced Monday aimed to increase the company's reach into the nascent and emerging mobile advertising market. While the segment of cell phone owners that uses devices running full HTML-capable browsers is small, it is expected to grow as more mobile devices take advantage of more powerful processors, larger displays and more robust phone operating system software. Google Advertisers Can Now Choose From Desktop Or Mobile Ads With New AdWords Options As more of these do-it-all mobile devices enter the market, the AdWords program will support them, Google said. The new AdWords changes allow advertisers to show both text or image-based ads to the iPhone and similar device audience, and to direct them to special areas on their Web sites. "The ads will have many of the same benefits as our standard mobile ads, such as the delivery of mobile-specific calls-to-action," Kenin noted. AdWords users can choose to not display their desktop advertising campaign spots for  the iPhone, G1 or other full browser-capable phones, Google said. "If you prefer not to show your desktop ads on these phones, you can opt out and show ads only on desktop and laptop computers," Kenin wrote in the Monday announcement. Over the past two years Google has expanded its advertising programs to include not only online services but also options within more traditional media such as television and radio. Last week the company behind the world's most-used search engine announced an agreement with the Hallmark Channel that will allow advertisers to buy commercial time on the Hallmark Movie Channel and Hallmark Channel through the Internet giant's fledgling Google TV Ads program. Google's program allows advertisers to run campaigns using a Web-based interface, similar to that of the AdWords program, to choose which markets, television networks and programs to target, and to automate and keep track of all ads placed using the Google TV Ads system which was first launched in May. Related Links :
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8:11 pm on Dec. 8, 2008 (utc 0)