Google adds graphics to mobile ads

Google Inc. has added image ads to its mobile advertising offerings.
The move allows advertisers to deliver made-for-mobile banners on Web sites being accessed by wireless devices. The ads — which, like Google’s text ads, are keyword-targeted — are priced on a cost-per-click basis and must link to a mobile Web page.
“For advertisers, mobile image ads serve as a branding tool and have shown to have good clickthrough rates,” Google Product Marketing Manager Alexandra Kenin said in a blog post. “Advertisers using mobile image ads will also benefit because we only show one image ad per mobile page.”
The ads are offered in four sizes and are available in 13 markets including the United States, China, India, Japan and the United Kingdom, Google said. The company said the move gives publishers the option to display text links, image ads or both, with Google dynamically returning the type of ad “that we expect will perform best at the time the ad is shown.”
“Currently, we are trying to have a small file size, so that at the time of serving it’s very fast to download and provides a good user experience,” Google developer Sanjay Agarwal said in a video demonstration on the company’s blog.