Google has announced a new feature that will be available in beta for a limited set of AdWords advertisers: +Post Ads.
How do they work?
Similar to promoting or boosting a post on Facebook, +Post ads allow you to turn your Google+ content strategy into ads to amplify the reach of your posts. However, Google is taking it a step further and turning these posts into display ads that run across the Google Display Network. This will expand the Google+ social platform across the web, dramatically increasing the reach of a post. As social media becomes a more prominent means of advertising, +Post ads will allow your audience to engage with your brand without ever leaving the site they were browsing.
Because Google is placing these ads across their display network, the social platform will still remain ad-free, for the time being.
What are the targeting options?
Targeting options will allow you to advertise to the right audience. Demographic targeting, contextual targeting and device targeting, similar to the Google Display Network, will be available to segment your audience and increase the engagement on your posts.
How much will this cost?
Google claims that advertisers will only pay for +Post ads when people engage with the content. However, according to AdAge, “advertisers will only pay when a user hovers over the ad for two seconds, which will cause it to expand on the screen.”
The good news is that creating +Post ads will have an added benefit once the campaign ends or the budget is reached. As more people engage with your content, it is likely that the virality of the post will increase and people within the social network will engage as well. Google+ Posts also have the ability to rank within the organic search results and within the knowledge panel associated with a brand, on the right side of the SERPs.
Sign up for the beta!
Currently in beta, you can fill out a simple form to sign up or reach out to your Google reps. With over 300 million monthly users, this new ad platform could dramatically increase your brand’s presence on Google+ and across the web.
+Post ads across the web
Google released this announcement with a video briefly outlining their test with Toyota to launch the 2014 Corolla. Below are some of the examples provided of +Post ads in the wild. +Post ads will appear in traditional display ad placements, but will open as a lightbox once clicked or hovered over.
+Post ads could have great impact for early adopters who take advantage of this opportunity to expand the reach of their content to millions of users, on a platform where it has traditionally been difficult to gain new followers. The success of this new product will largely hinge on the advertisers’ ability to convert “engagers” to brand followers, and measure the value of those followers over time.
For local businesses using +Post ads Google’s existing display ad network allows targeting by the same location criteria as AdWords. If one thinks of Google+ as a list of customers the ability to target location, audiences and behaviors is a great way to connect with local users who are prospective buyers and get their “permission” for retention marketing. Much as we may be loathe to put more eggs in the Google basket, the location targeting abilities within the Google ad network make +Post ads a clearly “Local” play.
Are you excited about +Post ads? In this post-Penguin world does Google+ see like an opportunity?
