Google testing out tons of new ad formats

Videos, links, locations, images, comparisons, oh my! Google amps up its advertising

Did you think Google still functioned solely on text ads?

Just a day after it announced plans to acquire Teracent, an online display advertising company, Google on Tuesday morning provided a glimpse on its blog of the current and still developing many forms of advertising we can expect to see in its search results.

One basic upgrade to text ads allows the return additional sub-links to specific sections of the advertiser's site, like "Hotels" or "Flights" on the Priceline site.

Google Maps too provides a vast opportunity for supplemental ad results. Underneath a standard text ad for a certain business, like "Fillmore Florist," one might see a small snip of a Google Maps page highlighting the location of said business. Similarly, ads for chain restaurants or business will display the multiple locations in one's area, if applicable.

Online retailers wishing to display their inventory will also have an ad format which allows for comparison shopping.

Finally, Google is already testing and developing ads that feature videos. For example, if a user searches for a movie coming out soon or just released, an ad for the movie may include the movie's trailer so that, depending on the original intention of the search, the user may never have to even leave the search results page.

For U.S. users, many of these ad formats have already been in place. This blog post may just be Google's way of saying that it has always been interested in alternative forms of advertising, long before the Teracent acquisition was cemented.

While the company walks a fine line between presenting relevant ads and overly-flashy ads that hamper its search results, Google appears to be trying to assure its userbase that the latter is not to be feared. According to Google VP of Product Management Susan Wojcicki, "we'll remain loyal to our core principle: that getting the right ad to the right person at the right time matters."