The Real Reason for more AdSense underneath the Maps
I’m seeing all kinds of posts popup about this ‘new’ Ads you can see underneath Google Maps. People at Techcrunch are even giving it a weird financial twist. Almost two weeks ago I asked Mike Blumenthal about these ads I started noticing and they might have been there for even a longer time for some selected people. Now what’s the real reason Google is starting to display these Ads? Of course, creating even more revenue! But this couldn’t be just it.
It must have had a different reason, and my idea is, that this is all because of the ‘blue line’ upgrade. The ‘blue line’ upgrade made sure that there was now the possibility to fold away all the text (and ads!) on the left. By implementing text underneath the maps Google made sure there is still some more exposure to these Local Business Ads. It would be unfair for the Local Business Ad owner if it was counted as an impression but didn’t get its maximum possible exposure inside Google Maps when people were using Google Maps Full Screen. Also the CTR was apparently quite low, and these ads are a way to encourage google maps users to click more ads. Although, if many people didn’t notice them at first, are they really that visible?
some apparent facts:
- The ads shown in the adsense box underneath the maps correspond with the ones already shown in the maps markers (with the customized icons) and the ones on the left.
- Some ads might be added/shown in this bar if the ads on the left do not count up to three items.
- your ad shown two times counts as two impressions (haven’t tested this yet but googleguy mentioned it)
If item number 3 in fact is true, I am wondering if this negatively affects your quality score. 2 impressions and most likely just one click at max. would lower your CTR, affect your Quality Score and affect prices of the keywords you are bidding on negatively.
These are my thoughts, what are yours?
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Local Business Ads owners - please use the LBC to the fullest
This is a call to all Local Business Ads owners.
If you are running an Adwords campaign for your Local Business Ads I’m quite sure you have entered your business details in the Local Business Center.Most probably you are running the Adwords campaign because you want people actually visiting your website. Well, best thing is, you can even have free traffic! I have seen cases where information was entered into the LBC just to support the Adwords.
Some ’statistics’:
amount of impressions were in thousands, the amount of clicks in hundreds. But no URL listed. Oops!
lesson learned: provide Local Business Center with full details about your business. This will increase traffic at no cost.
