It's time to put on those 3-D glasses, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). The company that owns the text-based hyperlink advertising market is making serious inroads in graphical advertising. Whether you consider its pending $3.1 billion deal to acquire display giant DoubleClick, or its push toward video ads after acquiring YouTube for $1.65 billion, Google's spent the most for companies that specialize in eye-candy sponsorships.
Now Big G has unleashed the broad rollout of Google Gadget Ads, which is angling to make Google a champ in interactive spots. Rich-media ads that you can play with aren't new. Companies like ValueClick (Nasdaq: VCLK) have been tempting folks to hit Britney Spears with cream pies in the pursuit of free cell phones for years.
The real draw with Gadget is that the ads allow you to do more than just trigger sound effects. You can stream an assortment of videos, open up miniature web pages, or submit mailing list signups, all without having to leave the ad itself.
Google's multimedia example is a recent Honda (NYSE: HMC) ad that featured a dozen Fall Out Boy videos, but the ads have put creative minds to work drumming up interactive campaigns for the likes of soft drink makers, amusement park operators, and Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC) Centrino Duo computer chip.
Advertisers can gauge how consumers are responding to the ads throughout the marketing campaign, and the spots can be changed on the fly. Google introduced the concept back in February during an automaker conference, but clearly, this is the kind of entertainment-driven marketing application that must have movie studios, concert promoters, and video game publishers doing celebratory dances that would make Chad Johnson blush.
Since the beta-testing has been going on for months, it shouldn't take ad rivals like Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), and LookSmart (Nasdaq: LOOK) by surprise. They will respond, and that kind of innovative pressure should make online advertising even stronger.
Gadget Ads raise the stakes, going to places that print, radio, and television spots only dream of. The ads also run independently of Google's other marketing forays, so it's not as if the search giant's losing any skin in the local-search game by going after the rich, nationally-based media sponsors.
Making ads fun, stimulating, and rewarding? What a concept!
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