Online Advertising: Information-Rich, Interactive, Engaging, Portable - These Are The New Google Gadgets Ads

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Google just launched Google Gadget Ads, basically, some highly customizable mini-sites in a box, that offer lots of possible applications, interactivity, animation, video and that exist to run as ads on AdSense publisher websites. Here's one:

The above is a Google Gadget Ad

Google Gadgets Ads are indeed micro web entities created by Google users just like you. Gadget Ads are in fact nothing else but a cool new way for you to promote and market your content, products or services via the Google Content Network and while using original dynamic content that can be easily placed on any other Web page on the net.

While until today Google Gadgets were essentially mini applications acting as Google's branded widgets (to-do list, currency converter, calendar, calculator, Wikipedia, translation tool, news, blogs, games) that you could easily add to your Google personalized homepage and (if you had Google Desktop installed) to your computer's desktop, the new Google Gadget Ads offer an opportunity for innovative, interactive exposure and marketing of your products/services by utilizing widgets as new web-based information-rich advertising vehicles.

Google Gadget Ads have indeed all of the potential to be made highly interactive, engaging and information-rich. Their mission is to capture potential readers' interest on other sites and to provide immediate value to them right then and there while accomplishing their advertising function, all of this while also getting some good traffic back to your site too.

The end result is that you as an advertiser can engage audiences on the Internet's largest ad network with a rich and interactive new ad format.

The above is a Google Gadget Ad

a) Maximize your reach through the whole Google Content Network with a custom interactive ad designed by you. Google claims to be the largest global advertising network with a reach of over 75% of unique Internet users in more than 20 languages and in over 100 countries.

b) Save money. All of your rich media, video and data hosting and serving costs inside Google Gadget Ads are entirely on Google's. No extra hosting costs for your media.

c) Provide truly useful information and simple, interactive services to readers while marketing your product/brand. Integrate data feeds, maps, images, audio, video, Flash, HTML or JavaScript into a single Google Gadget Ad.

d) Offer a positively more engaging experience, by integrating not just a static text message but pure, dynamic, interactive content of which you are the only creative director. Beyond Rich Media Advertising with "Websites within Websites". Think of gadget ads as mini versions of your website in any AdSense ad size.

e) Involve directly each and every reader into your campaign. Create a community of engaged users around your brand as users can post and share your gadget ads anywhere they want.

f) Track and learn everything about your ads and who watches/interacts with them
Google Gadget Ads provides what it labels "full interaction reporting" and which allows you to receive site-by-site interaction reports in which a typology of dozens of different types of user inter-actions can be fully tracked.

On the other hand, online independent publishers choosing to run these new Gadget Ads among existing ad inventory could possibly see increased competition (and better returns) for their web ad space.

How to Make Gadget Ads appear on Your Site

The above is a Google Gadget Ad

Gadget ads may appear in ad units that have been enabled to show image ads in one of the supported Google Gadget Ads formats. To make sure your site is set up to display gadget ads, make sure you're opted into image ads for that ad format - otherwise, your ad unit won't display gadget ads.

Presently supported Google Gadget Ad Formats are:
* large rectangle (336x280)
* medium rectangle (300x250)
* wide skyscraper (160x600)
* leaderboard (728x90)

If you do not see Google Gadget Ads showing up just yet it may simply be that gadget ads aren't being targeted to your content or language region at this time. Gadget ads are still relatively new and Google inventory is yet not very large on this front.

My advice is to ensure you have opted in to both text and image ads for these ad units in order to maximize competition for your ad space and help ensure that the most profitable ads will display on your web pages.

Will I, as a Web Publisher, make money off Gadget Ads?

The above is a Google Gadget Ad

Sure you will. Specificically, your earnings from gadget ads will depend on the pricing of the specific gadget ads you display. Gadget ads can be priced on either a cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand impressions basis (CPM). When paid on a CPC basis, you'll receive earnings for each valid clickthrough -- that is, a click that directs a user to the advertiser's website.

Note that you will not be paid simply for clicks on ad components that do not result in the user reaching the advertiser's website.

And when paid on a CPM basis, you'll be paid for the initial ad impression, rather than interactions or clickthroughs.

Keep in mind that gadget ads will compete against text, image, and video ads to show on your pages and Google will only display a gadget ad on your page when it represents the maximum potential revenue for your site.

Get Started with Creating Ads

If you want to jump right away into testing how difficult is to create a Gadegt Ad here is a full Google page leading you to necessary steps to get you started.

Not For Everyone Yet?

You may not be able to create gadget ads in your own AdWords account just yet.

Google says:

"Gadget ads require a high level of technical resources to create, and generally also require a high level of support from the AdWords support team. To avoid confusion for users, and to make sure we have appropriate levels of support, gadget ads are currently enabled for a limited number of AdWords advertisers who have created content-rich ads in the past.

If gadget ads are enabled in your account, you will have received an invitation to create gadget ads from the Google support team. If you haven't received this notice, don't despair: We expect to offer Google Gadget Ads to other advertisers in the future as the launch progresses."

Editor's Summary Review

A must-follow new technology for online independent publishers.

Google Gadget Ads are interesting both from an advertising and marketing viewpoint as well as for new monetization opportunity for online independent publishers wanting to carry this new type of ad inventory.

Absolutely outstanding in terms of information delivery and interaction power that offers to savvy marketers and companies wanting to reach out with something more than a billboard this is definitely a new reference standard for how effective, non-interruptive advertising should be created.

Of course, there will be bad and good uses of this, but what is highly disruptive is that now your content and ideas can "live" around the web, on hundreds of other web sites, while you as a publisher will be able to pick and choose great useful interactive gadget ads that serve both your readers' interests but provide them access to a product or service you would like to endorse.

Learn More about Google Gadget Ads

Google Gadgets Ads - Support Page

Find out if you are eligible to run Google Gadget Ads

Gadget Ads Feature Overview

Get started with Google Gadget Ads

Gadget Ads Success Stories

Gallery of Google Gadget Ads

Check out the Google Gadget Ads Editor and Validator

Tutorial on how to build Google Gadget Ads

Get funded by Google to improve your existing gadget or even to build a whole new business around one. Google Gadget Ventures is a new Google pilot program dedicated to helping developers create richer, more useful Google Gadgets.

Inspired by the success of iGoogle, which has been driven by the creation by 3rd-party developers of a broad range of gadgets, Gadget Ventures provides two types of funding:

1. Grants of $5,000 to those who've built gadgets that Google would like to see developed further. You're eligible to apply for a grant if you've developed a gadget that's in Google Gadgets Directory and gets at least 250,000 weekly page views. To apply, you must submit a one-page proposal detailing how you'd use the grant to improve your gadget.

2. Seed investments of $100,000 to developers who'd like to build a business around the Google gadgets platform. Only Google Gadget Venture grant recipients are eligible for this type of funding. Submitting a business plan detailing how you plan to build a viable business around the gadgets platform is a required part of the seed investment application process.

Original article written by Robin Good for Master New Media and entitled "Online Advertising: Information-Rich, Interactive, Engaging, Portable - These Are The New Google Gadgets Ads"