Google Text Link Ads - The hidden gem

Google announced Pay Per Action today but buried in the press release was this little thing about embedded Text Link Ads. Barron's caught the detail, as did Mike Arrington.

Ad formats: You can create text ads, image ads, or our new text link ad format in your pay-per-action campaign. Text link ads are brief text descriptions that take on the characteristics of a publisher’s page. These Javascript-based ads will display like regular hyperlinks and allow publishers to embed these links inline with other text to promote your product or service.

This is a potentially huge change to the way advertising is delivered. Rather than have short text ads appear off to the side under a Google Ads banner they would appear embedded in the text of the web site like a regular link.

So, when I talk about the great experience I had getting my mortgage at GMAC Mortgage last week, the link to GMAC is actually a paid advertisement. When you click on it you are taken to a page with GMAC Mortgage rates and a quote form.

Another blogger might write about an investment newsletter they subscribe to and how they made 20% on their money just last month. The link is really an advertisement that leads to a sign-up page. Just enter your email address and bingo...the blogger makes money.

The line between editorial content and advertising just got a little blurry. This is totally new, just in beta now, so there is no way to know how popular this embedded Text Link Ad will become. Contextual ads linked into relevant content may become perfectly acceptable. One of the lessons from Google's PPC ads is that people actually appreciate advertising that is relevant. Fashion magazine readers buy the magazine as much for the ads as they do for the content because the ads are enjoyable and relevant.

It is the subtle innovations like PPA and embedded Text Links that can really change the game. Watch this one closely.

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Comments

[Danial Jameel]

Actually this type of advertisment is not new. There are already sites with content text being hyperlinked to advertisers. Personally i have always found them annoying as a web surfer, since i am expecting hyperlinked words (especially conceptual refrences) to redirect me to a link with more info on it and not to an ecommerce website.

Example. JOEY is currently working on "ASP.NET 3.0" and utilizing "AJAX" etc etc. The user will most likely be expecting more information on these hyperlinked terms rather than an advertisment. I certainly wouldn't like being redirected to windows vista enterprise edition website or something similar when i click the above terms. Just my 2 cents

I feel that Advertisment should be excluded from user content as it deters the whole community experience.

[Juha]

This has the potential to backfire badly on Google, as it's essentially a more deceptive form of IntelliTxt.

Google of all outfits should know that you do not mix content and advertising like that.

[jeremy]

don,

a good example of this can be found here: http://www.crash.net/news_view.asp?cid=1&id=144869
below the pic ad in the middle of the page, roll over the text "formula one". content link by kontera.

jeremy

[Blendah Tom]

I think you guys are jumping the gun on the potential issues...Google will display a "Ads by Google" when you mouse over... So if anything I think that it will make it less effective.. We'll see.

Rust Brick has a good take on this http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/012809.html

[Ricardo Conte]

As Daniall Jameel said, this is not new, and is quite annoying. (almost) all advertising is an interruption from what you were doing. In a page, after noticing that the links lead to advertising I carefully avoid them. I guess many people will do the same: it will not work...