Nearly five months after +1 made its debut on search results and search ads, Google announced another potentially tasty treat for its advertisers. Beginning in October, the Google +1 button will begin appearing within display ads across the Google Display Network (GDN). Expanding to both desktop and mobile, the +1 button will allow advertisers to “run social-enabled ad campaigns that work across millions of sites in over 40 countries around the world,” according to the announcement.
By clicking +1 on a display ad, viewers are able to recommend your ad’s landing page to their friends, thereby making the advertising experience personal and social. Sound familiar? It should. Adding +1 to display ads is just the next phase in Google’s attempt to step up the competition with Facebook’s seamless (not to mention profitable) integration of advertising and social sharing. Facebook users have the option to share ads with their friends on the social network by Liking the ad, commenting on it or sharing the ad’s link in various ways within Facebook.
Naturally, the GDN gives more credit to ads with Google +1 recommendations, allowing the ads to follow friends around the web by including them in auctions for other pages visited. Also, a display ad +1 will play nice with the rest of the Google family. Whether on search results, search ads, display ads or websites, a +1 applies to the same content, regardless of where it appears on the web. Not drinking the Kool-Aid? Don’t fret – any advertiser not sold on Google +1 will have the ability to opt-out.
In months to come, it will be interesting to keep an eye on the progression of Google’s attempt to take on the original king of social advertising. Stay tuned…
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