Seeing ads in Google Maps isn’t anything new, but Google is making it easier and more effective than ever for brick-and-mortar businesses to advertise themselves to people using the location-based service and to get them to pay a visit.
Beginning Nov. 12, Google is expanding its Local Campaigns and product so when users get directions using Google Maps, Google will start surfacing promoted pins. So, if you’re looking for directions to a specific place, you can see promoted pins along the way. And if you tap on that pin, you can add that promoted business as a stop on your route.
The company is also expanding “local actions” to make them available for a wider range of businesses, so advertisers can make it easier for users to call their businesses directly, as well as get driving directions more easily.
Each of these new features helps businesses extend their reach with ads they’ve purchased from Google to encourage people to visit them in-store or on-location, and the ads apply to Maps, Search, Discover, YouTube, websites and other apps.
Google’s newest Local campaigns features are further developments in the greater promise of location-based ad targeting in an increasingly more mobile world. Since Google Maps launched 15 years ago, it has mapped more than 220 countries, and it has information, ratings and reviews for more than 150 million businesses and places worldwide.
In the past 10 years alone, Google Ads Global Product Director Kim Spalding said that the company has seen 350 times more search interest in “local” and “near me” search inquiries.
In response, more local businesses are pouring money into digital advertising. The most recent BIA Advisory Services Local Advertising Forecast estimates U.S. local business media spend will reach $148.8 billion, and while the majority of it will go toward direct mail (25%) and local video (19.9%), mobile accounts for $21.8 billion, or 14.6% of total ad share.
And with the holidays approaching, it’s an ideal time for local businesses to advertise via mobile. The NPD Group’s 2019 Holiday Purchase Intentions Survey said that while 75% of consumers plan to shop online, more than half of purchases for the holidays will be done in-store. The survey also found that 25% of shoppers plan to shop using their smartphones, up from 19% last year.
And with the holidays approaching, it’s an ideal time for local businesses to advertise via mobile. The NPD Group’s 2019 Holiday Purchase Intentions Survey said that while 75% of consumers plan to shop online, more than half of purchases for the holidays will be done in-store. The survey also found that 25% of shoppers plan to shop using their smartphones, up from 19% last year.
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