Google Prepares to Launch 'Circular-Inspired' Ads

When you think of Google in connection with advertising, you perhaps think of those little text ads that are either annoying or invisible, depending on your point of view.

But Google is also behind many of the more visually oriented "display" ads on the Web and now says it is on a quest to create Web-based ad circulars, similar to those that weigh down the Sunday paper.

Nick Fox, vice president of product management at Google, said big retailers including Macy's and Best Buy are supporting the effort

“They’re trying to understand what the answer is in the digital age to the offline print circular. They’re trying to understand how to get their online visitors into their stores. And this is our answer to that,” Fox told Bloomberg.

Afraid you'll miss seeing the new ads?  Don't worry. They'll have lots of pictures and great big type and will jump right out at you when you click on the appropriate search ads. 

More options

Yet another Google feature is about to debut.  It will enable ads to display more than one click option.  In other words, an ad for Nissan could have one click for more information about cars and another for SUV data.

Google says the new approach increases click-through rates from 15 percent to more than 50 percent, depending on the number of extra links there are in the ad.

Google gets paid for each click on an ad, so increasing the click-through ratio rings the cash register more often.