Google Brings AdMob to AdWords, Expands Mobile Ad Capabilities

Posted by: Anna Hutson

In a union that has been in the works for several years, Google has finally integrated mobile app advertising capabilities into AdWords via the AdMob network.  Google originally bought AdMob in the Fall of 2009 (two years ago) for $750 million, in a move that Google describes as “the latest chapter in our ongoing efforts not only to bring AdMob’s and Google’s tools together, but to mobilize all of our ads products and services.”

According to the Google Mobile Blog:

“AdWords advertisers’ will now have access to mobile app inventory from directly within the AdWords interface, giving them the ability to create and manage ad campaigns that run across more than 300,000 mobile apps in the AdMob network.  Advertisers will be able to easily build, launch, and optimize their mobile campaigns across multiple platforms, and have full transparency about where their mobile ads run. AdWords advertisers can now manage, measure and adjust search, display and video ads, reaching people on more than 2 million websites and hundreds of thousands of apps, across all screens.”

 For advertisers, the ability to place ads on mobile apps has now been seamlessly integrated into the AdWords interface.  When setting up a new campaign, advertisers select the “Display Network only (mobile apps)” option from the “Campaign type” drop down menu (screenshot below.)  By selecting this as the campaign type, the advertiser is now launching the creation of their mobile apps campaign.  Additional targeting ability includes selecting specific categories available in the Google Play Store (e.g. ‘Games’) or App Store and individual apps (e.g. ‘Flood it’).  Within AdWords, ads can also be targeted at specific Smartphone or tablet models.

 

This move is significant in part because it adds a whole new layer and revenue stream to Google’s already large-scale, self-serve advertising model.  Most businesses are aware of the importance of mobile and may already be in the beginning stages of crafting or executing a mobile marketing strategy.  With this in mind, Google’s new AdMob integration and full mobile advertising capabilities makes launching mobile advertising efforts that much easier.  With a few clicks of a mouse, an AdWords advertiser can launch a full-scale mobile campaign.  Not only is the set-up and launch simple and straight forward, but it’s attractive because an advertiser can manage all of their search, display and mobile campaigns within one dashboard.

In making it easier for advertisers to spend dollars on mobile marketing, Google is certainly looking to expand the revenue potential of AdWords.  What advertisers need to keep in mind is that before throwing money at mobile and AdMob campaigns current mobile traffic should be analyzed and testing should ensue.  Google still lacks the tools to project mobile reach and impressions, and it’s hard to predict or estimate how mobile ads will perform.  However, Google has stated that “in the next several weeks, we’ll also provide an estimate on the number of devices reached and impressions targeted given your selections.”  It will be interesting to see how the estimation capabilities progress and how these metrics help advertisers make informed decisions about their mobile ad campaigns.