Singapore first to offer gadget & mobile Ads in SE Asia

Singapore - Google has launched two new online ad avenues in Singapore - Google Gadget and mobile ads - making it the first country in SE Asia to offer these advertising platforms to marketers.

Lori Sobel, Google Singapore's head of sales said, "To improve our advertising offering and provide innovative new benefits to both advertisers and users, we are excited to offer gadget and mobile ads in Singapore, because of its high broadband and mobile penetration rates. We are working with many advertisers who have not only embraced search marketing, but are always exploring new media options to extend their reach beyond traditional customer touchpoints. Thought-leading companies and brands, such as Nokia Nseries and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, are looking at our advertising formats as creative ways to interact and communicate with their customers as well as to gain first-mover advantage in the highly-competitive banking, IT and travel industries."

Google Gadget's offer of detailed interaction reports allow marketers to track actions within the creative unit. The ads are designed to act more like content than typical ads, and the tool is currently in an expanded beta stage with a select group of AdWords advertisers worldwide. It incorporates real-time data feeds, images, video in a single creative unit with interactive, rich media capabilities, developed using Flash, HTML or both to engage users. Supporting both cost-per-click and cost-per-impression pricing models, it has customised options ensuring ads reach relevant users. Built on an open platform, there are no limits to setting up and running ads on the Google content network, hence there are no serving or hosting costs. They can be shared among users generating free traffic at no additional cost.

Introducing a financial component to Google's mobile roadmap, Google's Mobile Ads enables a wide range of advertisers to reach users with relevant information when they are on the go. They are similar to PC text ads although with character limit and call feature. Advertisers can link users through its mobile website or click-to-call. The auction bidding model will be based on quality based bidding, while mobile and text ad keywords will not bid against each other.