Offline, meet online: a marketing experiment with Google Goggles

This post has been cross posted from the Official Google Blog:

About a year ago, we launched Google Goggles, an app that enables people to search the web by taking pictures with their mobile devices. Since then, people have used Goggles to search for information about lots of different things: famous paintings, landmarks, products and much more.

Today, we’re announcing a Google Goggles marketing experiment. We’re working with five brands—Buick, Disney, Diageo, T-Mobile and Delta Airlines—to extend some of their offline marketing to the mobile web. They have “Goggles-enabled” some of their print ads, movie posters and other media. When users take pictures of these with Google Goggles, they will be recognized by the app, and users will have the option of clicking-through directly to a mobile destination from the brand.

For a closer look at these specific campaigns, take a look at our video:



We developed Google Goggles so that people could more easily explore the world around them with a mobile device. In this experiment, we’re applying the same principles, and the same technology, by “Goggles-enabling” advertisements and other media, and offering to link people to the mobile sites from these brands.

When you scan this "Goggles-enabled" Buick ad with Google Goggles, you can connect directly with Buick's mobile experience. Click the image to enlarge.

To interact with these experimental campaigns, download Google Goggles from the Android Market or get Google Mobile App for iPhone from the iTunes store, and look for advertising and products from companies in the video above and others that are coming soon.

Posted by Shailesh Nalawadi, Product Manager, Google Goggles

75% of YouTube Mobile users report that mobile is their primary way of accessing YouTube content

Usage of m.youtube.com is exploding and mobile consumers watch hundreds of millions of video views on YouTube Mobile each month. To better understand these users and their browsing and video consuming behavior we recently ran a survey of users on m.youtube.com and received >16,000 responses.  Some of the results may surprise you:

• 75% of respondents say that mobile is their primary way of accessing YouTube
• 70% visit YouTube Mobile at least once a day
• 58% spend more than 20 minutes per visit to YouTube Mobile
• 38% feel that YouTube Mobile is replacing their desktop YouTube usage

However, these results may not be as surprising when you learn that, according to Nielsen, YouTube Mobile is the #1 video viewing mobile website in the US, with more than 7.1MM monthly unique users.  Advertisers can now own 100% share-of-voice on YouTube Mobile (m.youtube.com) by purchasing a daily roadblock and owning all available ad impressions for 24 hours.  Ads run on the Search, Browse and Home pages of the mobile website. Here’s an example of a recent Diet Coke campaign:

The roadblock runs across the Search, Browse and Home pages of m.youtube.com

Advertisers from a range of verticals have successfully run roadblocks on YouTube Mobile including autos, CPG, entertainment, retail and others.   Many advertisers choose to time their YouTube Mobile Roadblocks to coincide with product launches, sales events, or other days they are making a big media push.  Purchasing a roadblock of YouTube Mobile is an excellent complement to campaigns you may be running on YouTube’s desktop as you can reach users as they interact with YouTube from their device of choice. 

We’ve launched this opportunity in the US and we’re excited to roll it out in multiple international markets soon.

Posted by Johanna Werther, Advertiser Lead PMM, Google Mobile Display Marketing

Google’s AdMob heads to Austin, TX for 360 iDev

Join Charles Yim, a veteran of AdMob and now Manager of Google’s Mobile Partnerships on Monday, November 8th at the 360 iDev Conference in Austin, TX.

Charles will be sharing best practices the AdMob team has seen in building a sustainable business on mobile.  The presentation will cover app discovery, selecting an appropriate business model for your app and tracking key performance metrics. This conference aims to bring together the best and brightest developers on the iOS platform for 3 days of training, brainstorming, idea-sharing and networking.  The conference kicks off on Sunday!

Google is excited to sponsor this event and share insights from the AdMob team on building a successful mobile app business.

Keri Buchanan, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Publishers

Bringing Google ads to AdMob publishers

Since AdMob was acquired by Google in May, both teams have been collaborating on new products and features.  Today we are excited to announce a major new benefit to both AdMob publishers and Google advertisers that comes from the integration of these two teams.

In the coming weeks, eligible iPhone and Android application developers in the AdMob network will be able to show Google AdSense ads when an AdMob ad is not available. This will also enable Google advertisers to extend the reach of their mobile campaigns to the thousands mobile apps in AdMob's network, such as Rovio's 'Angry Birds'.

We’ve worked hard to make it as easy as possible for AdMob publishers to access this new inventory.  Publishers using a recent version of the SDK will not have to update their code.  

Reporting will integrate directly into your AdMob account, and you will continue to receive a single check from AdMob each month.  

Publishers should note that they will not be able to filter the types of AdSense ads (e.g. category, URL) that run in their app.  As a result, publishers who have ad filters selected for their AdMob inventory need to opt in to receive Google ads.  Publishers can check their “App Settings” tab in the Sites & Apps section of their publisher account to see if they are eligible for Google ads and opt in.  

Eligible iPhone and Android application publishers not utilizing ad filters will be opted into receiving Google ads as the feature is rolled out in phases over the next several weeks.  

Please visit the Help Center for more details.  All publishers who show AdSense ads must comply with the Google AdSense Terms and Conditions.

This is the first of many exciting things to come with the integration of AdMob and Google.  

Posted by Jason Morse, Google Mobile Ads Product Manager

Measure the phone calls you get from AdWords

Cross posted from the Inside AdWords Blog:

What if you found out that your AdWords campaigns were bringing you more customers than you realized?

Zac Stafford, Senior Search Strategist at Nina Hale Search Marketing in Minneapolis, MN, recently discovered that this was true for his client, modern furniture retailer Room & Board. Stafford saw some encouraging results as an early beta tester of AdWords call metrics, a new feature that automatically includes a unique phone number in your ads to measure the calls that you receive from AdWords.

“By cross-checking our call metrics reports with our sales records, we saw that half the people who called the toll free number in our ad purchased online but the other half purchased in a store. Before using call metrics, we determined our ROI just by looking at the online sales numbers. Now we have proof that online search ad campaigns drive in-store purchases.”

Today we're announcing that AdWords call metrics is available for more advertisers, making it easier than ever to measure the phone calls that AdWords generates for your business. Using the technology behind Google Voice, call metrics assigns your campaign a unique phone number which is automatically inserted into your ad on both desktop and high-end mobile devices, where the number is clickable.

click to enlarge image

click to enlarge image

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When a user calls the number in your ad, the call is automatically routed to your business, and AdWords notes that this call took place. Then, when you look at your AdWords reports, you’ll see the number of calls generated by each campaign, call duration, and in the near future, caller area code. You'll still only pay for clicks on your ads, but we intend to charge for call metrics in the future. 

Once you know where your calls are coming from, you can refine your marketing strategy to make sure you’re getting the most out of your ads. For example, you could test different ad text variations to see which results in the most calls or reallocate budget to campaigns that truly bring you the highest ROI. 

Currently, call metrics is only available to a limited number of US advertisers. We plan to make the feature available to more advertisers in the coming months. To find out if call metrics is available in your account and to learn more about the feature, visit Google Ad Innovations.
 

Posted by Surojit Chatterjee, Senior Product Manager, AdWords