Support for WAP mobile search ad formats extended to more countries

As the online audience shifts from desktop to the mobile web, we’ve seen incredible growth in the volume of mobile search queries. Over the past two years, Google's mobile search traffic has grown fivefold. And this year alone Google mobile search volumes have doubled in Latin America and South East Asia.  

To help advertisers connect with users in fast developing mobile markets, we are extending WAP ad support on Google Search to 15 new countries (listed in the image below).

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While we are working to drive mobile innovation in countries with a strong high-end device presence, we’ve also developed optimized ad formats for feature-phone-dominant markets. WAP-based mobile ads are an effective way to reach customers who are located in regions with high feature phone usage. In addition, advertisers find WAP ads to be particularly useful in expanding the magnitude of their mobile campaigns and in delivering powerful mobile calls to action. If you’d like to create a WAP mobile ad, please visit our Help Center for instructions.

Posted by Chrix Finne, Product Manager, Google Mobile Ads

AdMob and Coca Cola bring the holidays to your mobile phone

The AdMob team at Google recently worked with the Coca-Cola Company to produce a live wallpaper celebrating the holiday season based on their annual holiday commercial.  Live wallpapers are animated homescreen backgrounds that respond to both touch and phone movement, and can also react to the time of day and a device’s geographic location.  This is the first time the AdMob team has worked with an advertiser on creating this type of mobile experience.

Coke’s annual holiday commercial features Santa in his workshop, surrounded by snowglobes displaying various winter cityscapes. Santa brings holiday cheer to the characters in the snowglobe by tilting the globes to bring together couples and families under a snowy winter sky.  Coke’s live wallpaper takes the user into this snowglobe experience. You can visit scenes from the video and tilt your phone to move the characters, just like Santa. Shaking your phone twirls the snow around, turning your Android phone into the snowglobe Santa interacts with in the holiday commercial! This experience is truly interactive and fun for the customer, while also providing a powerful branding opportunity and bridging marketing efforts across different channels. Advertisers have the chance to be the first thing a user sees when unlocking their phone or exiting from a mobile app.

Coke will be promoting this live wallpaper experience through a mobile display advertising campaign on the AdMob network. AdMob allows advertisers to target Android users as they use applications and browse the mobile web from their phone. By sending users directly to the Android Market, Coke maximizes their live wallpaper conversion rate. This reach ensures that the most people possible will be able to enjoy the wallpaper throughout the holiday season.

The video below shows how you can download the Coke wallpaper from an auto-play interactive video ad on the AdMob Network.

You can download the Coke live wallpaper by visiting the Android Market from your mobile device.

Posted by Vicky Homan, Google Mobile Ads Marketing Team

Media companies: stop thinking about mobile and start building

Last week I attended the L.A. Mobile Entertainment Summit which brought together some of the leading media companies such as Weather.com and ESPN to think about mobile.  I participated in a monetization panel which discussed some of the big questions on the minds of content creators today: Should we build applications or mobile web sites?  What’s the role of operators and platforms? Should we launch free or paid apps?  

Although these are important questions to ask, as with online, there is no one size fits all strategy. The mobile platform is evolving faster than any prior media platform and there will always be new things to consider - HTML5, tablets, app marketplaces, etc.  Media companies need to stop looking for a silver bullet solution and start building, collecting data and iterating to figure out what works best for their content and consumers.  Thomas Ellsworth, CEO at GoTV Networks, made a great point that you need to start with the “end in mind” when building your mobile strategy by figuring out how “mobility” will benefit your consumer.  Think about these key questions:

• What is the value you are providing consumers?
• How does mobile complement your existing business?  
• Does mobile provide an opportunity to acquire new customers? Or will it help tie deeper into your existing base?
• Should mobile be monetized separately or be included in the online value proposition?
• Are there opportunities to create new experiences that leverage the mobile context such as location, mobile payments, or voice recognition?

The best advice I can give to media publishers is to just get started and prepare to measure and analyze.  RJ Kirkland, Regional Vice President at The Weather Channel described how they launched the Weather.com app for $5 and it went nowhere.  Once they offered a free, ad-supported version, it exploded.  Kirkland’s example shows that companies that test and iterate improve their chances of success on mobile.

Get out there and start interacting with your consumers on mobile to determine the most used or requested features, when and how consumers engage your content on mobile versus online, and the unique characteristics of users that share or pay for content.  The development cycle on mobile often matches online so these insights will help you optimize across consumer channels.  Build for mobile with this iteration process in mind so that you are collecting data from the beginning and can start answering these questions.  

Mobile is evolving faster than any technology we have seen in a long time. It’s exciting, but it’s daunting. The most important thing you can do to be successful on mobile, is to start now.  

Good luck!

Posted by Jordan Kobert, Mobile Partnerships - Media and Entertainment.

Jordan Kobert is responsible for growing and developing Google's mobile publisher network in North America, with a focus on media and entertainment. In this role, Jordan works with publishers and content creators to develop new revenue streams for their mobile business. Jordan has spent the last 7 years developing and implementing monetization strategies for Mobile and Internet companies and joined Google as part of the company’s acquisition of AdMob.

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Holiday Mobile Commerce Survey

It’s clear that consumers have become more and more dependent on their smartphones to help them conquer their endless to-do lists and get their shopping done. We believe there’s a huge opportunity to bridge the gap between online and offline for all businesses big and small, especially during the busy holiday season.

Two weeks ago we ran a survey of consumers on the AdMob network to gain insight into how smartphone users in the US are engaging with their mobile devices for holiday shopping. The survey received more than 200 responses and the results should be taken as directional. Some of the interesting survey findings include:

• 53% of respondents said they use their mobile device to look up information on a product while in a store and then later purchase the product online.
• 45% of respondents said they use their mobile device in addition to their desktop for holiday shopping.
• 45% of respondents have spent at least $10 on a purchase via their mobile device. 34% have spent more than $20. Respondents said they were most likely to make purchases via their mobile device for products or services that fall into the entertainment, technology and travel categories.
• 29% said that their mobile device is replacing their desktop for holiday shopping (researching products, purchasing products, finding retailers).
• The most popular activity among respondents using their mobile device for holiday shopping was comparing prices (31% of respondents).

Our recently launched Mobile Offer Ads product is part of our commitment to helping bridge mobile advertising and commerce. We’re excited about this space and we plan to continue focusing on connecting retailers to their mobile consumers.

Posted by Harsh Shah, Google Mobile Ads Marketing Team

Better shopping with the Seller Ratings extension for mobile

Everyday consumers are using their phones to search Google and a growing number are turning to mobile to complete a variety of purchases.  In fact, according to internal Google data, in Q3 Google searches from mobile devices grew 130% year over year. Additionally, a Mobile Marketing Association study found that 59% of holiday shoppers said they plan to use their mobile phones to facilitate holiday shopping. So this year we are creating a better mobile shopping experience by helping consumers identify highly rated online merchants. Today, we are excited to announce that we are bringing Seller Ratings extensions from desktop to the mobile platform thereby enabling mobile searchers to see merchants who are highly recommended by other shoppers.

Having a great online reputation is key. Now with Seller Ratings on mobile, businesses can extend this important information from desktop to mobile devices. By showcasing relevant and useful rating information for your business, the extension can help differentiate you from your competition and guide potential customers to purchase from your site. Seller Ratings are aggregated from merchant review sites all around the web and the extension will only show when a merchant's online store has a rating of four or more stars and at least 30 reviews. As seen in the example below, the ad will display the merchant’s star rating as well as a clickable link to the seller’s reviews.

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Setting up the Seller Ratings extension is easy. Provided your campaigns are opted-in to show on high-end devices with full Internet browsers, Seller Ratings are automatically enabled for your mobile and desktop ads and do not require any additional set-up. Right now Seller Ratings are only available on Google.com, Google.co.uk and Google.de domains. Ads will only show for advertisers who provide users with paid goods or services or those that enable the buying or selling of products or services via a marketplace. Please note that ratings are aggregated for the entire merchant store as opposed to individual products.

To learn more about Seller Rating extensions, including how to manage when they appear with your ads, you can read the FAQ in the AdWords help center.

Posted by Anna Khesed, Google Mobile Ads Marketing Team

G4 grows Android app user base with measurable ROI

It’s no secret that mobile websites and applications are a great way to engage customers on their mobile phone. As a one stop destination for cutting edge tech gadget and video game news and information, G4 considers mobile an extremely important extension of the G4 brand.  Developing mobile applications has allowed G4 to experience close to the same levels of usage on mobile as on the desktop platform. With the tremendous growth of Android devices in the market and increased user demand, developing an Android app was a no-brainer for G4.

In order to quickly grow Android app adoption at launch, G4 used a variety of marketing activities to drive installs. They ran on-air and in-show promotions and took advantage of house ad inventory to drive awareness with their core users. To reach new customers, G4 used mobile display advertising on the AdMob network. AdMob helped G4 easily reach engaged Android users on their phone, where they could be easily converted into app users. Mobile is one of the few platforms where this kind of immediacy can be achieved.

While internal marketing efforts helped G4 build out their initial user base, paid media was the critical component of the marketing mix that attracted new users to the G4 mobile brand. As a content provider that earns revenue from advertising, the app’s success has allowed G4 to deliver even more value to advertisers by expanding their offering across three screens (television, desktop web and mobile).

Understanding the return on investment of app promotion was also an important part of the Android launch. Tracking performance with app download tracking enabled G4 to evaluate what ads and Android devices showed the highest conversion rate and lowest cost-per-install. By refining device targeting and only running on the most effective ad creative, G4 was able to maximize return from their marketing budget. The campaign drove a conversion rate of 8.01% across all ads and devices, while top ads converted at 12.25% and top devices at 16.47%.

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We are excited to see continued success working with application developers in growing their user base across platforms. Congratulations to G4 on their success on mobile!

Posted by Vicky Homan, Google Mobile Ads Marketing Team

Focus on phone calls with Call-only Creative

Many businesses value phone calls and website visits differently. For example, a pizza restaurant may prefer to connect with customers over the phone because calls are more likely to result in phone orders.  In fact, advertisers frequently ask us for an easy way to just focus on phone calls with their mobile campaigns. So today we are excited to announce the Call-only Creative, an enhancement to the Click-to-Call Phone Extensions, which gives advertisers the flexibility to create campaigns with the sole purpose of driving calls to their business.

As shown in this sample ad for Lou’s Italian Pizza, Call-only Creative prominently features a clickable phone number while suppressing the user’s ability to click anywhere else in the ad. As a result, Lou’s can completely focus on fostering phone interactions with its customers via its mobile ads.

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Call-only Creative ads show on Google.com on high-end devices with full Internet browsers. To take advantage of this feature, advertisers must enable Phone Extensions and check the ‘Call-only format’ box on the Phone Extensions tab in their mobile campaign. Call-only Creative ads may get clicks from devices like iPads or iPod Touches, which cannot make phone calls. Clicks on ads from these devices will send users to the advertiser’s landing page. As with all Click-to-Call ad formats, advertisers are charged when a user clicks on the phone number in the ad.  For instructions on enabling Phone Extensions for your mobile campaign, please click here.

Posted by Anna Khesed, Google Mobile Ads Marketing Team

Roy’s Restaurants achieves 800% ROI with mobile only campaigns and hyperlocal advertising

Roy’s Restaurants has landed on a recipe for success with Google Mobile Ads. By using hyperlocal advertising and creating mobile-only AdWords campaigns, Roy’s was able to drive 40% more calls and ultimately more customers to their stores. Read more to learn how Roy’s and its agency, G&M Plumbing, have implemented mobile best practices to achieve an 800% ROI.
In 1988, James Beard Award-winner Roy Yamaguchi opened the first Roy's in Honolulu, Hawaii. Multi-ingredient fusion dishes, a spacious dining room, an expansive lounge, and a signature exhibition kitchen in full view defined the experience.  Today’s Roy’s 31 restaurants cater to diners celebrating a special occasion as well as business travelers looking to wind down.

Getting started with click-to-call mobile ads
Based on substantial success with Google AdWords, G&M and Roy’s began looking for new ways to increase marketing returns and create meaningful connections with customers. Together, they determined that customers who call the restaurant will frequently make multiple reservations and that a growing number of people prefer to use their phones to secure a dining spot. With a goal of increasing phone reservations, Roy’s extended their desktop click-to-call location extensions campaign to the mobile platform. As a result,  call volumes grew and the company became curious about what they could do to further maximize calls and returns.

Creating mobile-only campaigns and implementing mobile best practices
Roy’s and G&M subsequent steps are a great example of how to maximize returns by advertising on mobile devices with Google. First, the duo created a national, mobile-only campaign that enabled them to budget, bid, target, and track their mobile performance separately from their desktop AdWords campaigns. Next they employed aggressive bids to increase the chances of their ads appearing in the top positions – an important consideration for advertising on mobile because of the phone’s smaller screen size.
 

Harnessing the power of hyperlocal advertising
In addition to mobile-specific campaigns, Roy’s also took advantage of Google Mobile Ads’ new hyperlocal advertising feature which serves locally relevant ads and displays distance information to help users understand how close they are to a business. The hyperlocal functionality of the ad format immediately enabled the company to better target on-the-go customers searching for the closest Roy’s Restaurant location.

Reflecting on the experience with hyperlocal ads, Jason Maloney, Vice President of Marketing for Roy’s said, “With Google's hyperlocal mobile advertising, we were able to target our potential guests at their point of need. Mobile searchers looking for dining options could effortlessly see how close they were to a nearby Roy's Restaurant and the click to call function allowed for instant reservations. Our hyperlocal mobile-only campaign drove a 40% increase in calls with a CPC 67% less than desktop ads.  The numbers are impossible to ignore. We have to invest in hyperlocal mobile advertising as part of our long-term growth strategy.”

Reaping exponential returns
Roy's was able to achieve click-through rates 539% higher on mobile than on desktop by investing in mobile-specific campaigns and hyperlocal advertising. And Scott Dunagan, Director of Digital Marketing at G&M Plumbing believes this is only the beginning of the mobile advertising returns for Roy’s, “With Google Mobile Ads we saw an 800% return on investment on our mobile-only campaigns, roughly doubling our ROI from when we had blended mobile/desktop campaigns. Google Mobile Ads have allowed us to reach our target consumers and enable them to transact with us in much more effective ways than any other medium. It’s all about giving the end user all the information they need within the ad. With Google mobile-only campaigns we are seeing tremendous results.”

Posted by Dai Pham, Google Mobile Ads Product Marketing

Adidas boosts in-store sales with Mobile Offer Ads

Adidas, a major sports apparel manufacturer and retailer, was looking for new ways to drive customers to their stores.  So when Google Mobile Ads offered them the opportunity to be a part of a limited mobile Offer Ads beta, they jumped at the chance. Mobile Offer Ads enable advertisers to place coupon offers right into their sponsored search listings on Google.com. Adidas was already testing mobile search ads to drive traffic to their mobile site and the beta allowed them to experiment with using mobile to drive foot traffic to their stores.

In their ad, the company offered customers 15% off purchases made in an Adidas store of $75 or more. Interested users could store the offer either via email or SMS. In addition to the coupon, the ad also provided a phone number and map of a local Adidas store, giving consumers all they would need to go in-store, redeem the offer and make a purchase.  With a click-through rate 28% higher than their past mobile advertising, the mobile Offers Ads campaign doubled in-store coupon redemption and increased the average in-store order value.

Based on the success of Adidas and other advertisers with mobile Offer Ads, we are excited to continue our work with offers and have since extended the beta to desktop computers. While beta participation is currently limited, we hope to make it broadly available soon.

Posted by Dalia Mitra, Google Mobile Ads Marketing Team

Great advice from industry experts on building businesses on mobile

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

With hundreds of thousands of apps available for mobile devices, developers are all looking for advice on app design, business models, app discovery and user retention. The AdMob strategic partnership team has learned a great deal from our mobile publishers about what works on mobile.  We’ve watched as many of them have climbed the app charts and built sustainable businesses on mobile. However, these developers spent a lot of time testing ideas, gaining insights from user feedback and iterating to build better apps, learning invaluable lessons along the way.  For example, Arash Keshmirian, co-founder and CEO of Limbic Software, told us that simply changing the icon of their popular iPhone game TowerMadness and moving to a freemium model led to a 10x increase in downloads!  

Today, we’re introducing a new Google Mobile Ads YouTube channel where developers can watch videos that will help them turn their great app ideas into thriving mobile businesses. We’ll also feature videos to help advertisers start taking advantage of opportunities on mobile. 

Our first video is from Rovio Mobile Inc, makers of Angry Birds, a gaming app that has been downloaded more than 30 million times across 60 countries, 12 million of which are paid downloads. This game is easy to pick up but difficult to put down, and Rovio reports an average of 65 million minutes of game-play per day.  We invited Peter Vesterbacka, “The Mighty Eagle of Rovio,” to share insights into the creation of this mobile game and advice for developers on how to think about building a mobile business.



We’re inspired by the developers and companies we work with that have already made investments in mobile and hope that sharing these stories will encourage further growth in the mobile industry. Our thanks go out to the great team at Rovio for helping us put this video together. And we’ll continue to update the Google Mobile Ads YouTube channel with mobile success stories from top developers as well as tips from industry experts. Don’t forget to subscribe to be the first to see cool new videos.

Posted by Jason Spero, Director, Mobile

Join us at the Interactive Local Media conference in Santa Clara, CA next week

Please join us next week December 7-9, 2010 at the Interactive Local Media Conference produced by BIA Kelsey. Google’s Surojit Chatterjee, Wesley Chan, Carter Maslan and Todd Rowe will be presenting at the sessions listed below.

Evolution of Mobile Local: The Leaders
December 7, 2010 3:30pm - 5:30pm 

Mobile local content and ads are developing into lots of shapes and sizes. We’re bringing online search habits to mobile but also checking in to location based social apps and scanning barcodes. How are we evolving the act of finding a flat screen, pair of jeans or pint of Guinness, and what does it mean for local advertising?

Panelists include:  Surojit Chatterjee, Senior Product Manager, Google, Matt Galligan, Chief Strategy Office and Cofounder, SimpleGeo, Evan Tana, Director of Product Management, Shopkick Alistair Goodman, CEO, Placecast.

Google at ILM 2010: Refocus on Local/Location Services
December 8, 2010 10:30am - 11:15am 

Google has refocused on local and location services as a prime growth area, recently appointing search head Marissa Mayer to run the entire segment. During this can’t miss session, Google executives will review the local and location landscape, and share their perspectives on how Google works with the industry.

Presented by Wesley Chan, Partner, Google Ventures and Carter Maslan, Product Management Director, Local Search, Google. 

The Big Opportunity in Local Search, Local Sales
December 9, 2010 11:30am - 12:15pm 

The hard part about local is selling local, right? But that’s what makes the local opportunity so intriguing. It may be something of a winner take all. Find out what’s working in local online and mobile sales.

Panelists include: Court Cunningham, CEO, Yodle, Todd Rowe, Head of Global Channel Sales, Google, Gleb Shaviner, Director of Marketing and Strategy, Advertising and Media Business Unit, Amdocs, Geoff Stevens, Executive VP and GM, Global Business Development, WebVisible.

Be sure to catch the Evolution of Mobile Local session where Surojit Chattejee will be sharing some of our recent Mobile Ads developments in hyperlocal advertising. 

We hope to see you there.

Posted by Anna Khesed, Google Mobile Ads Marketing Team