Detail - Google Map Ads

This is really cool news for all of those out there who’ve been developing Maps mashups, particularly, because if you’re using the API you could potentially make something off of your work, particularly stuff that’s compelling enough to get lots of traffic.

It’s also very cool that Google’s apparently allowing developers to choose if the ads will appear at all in their maps, and if so, how many.

If you haven’t seen the ads appearing in the maps before, one of the best-known examples is to search for Hotels in New York City:

(click to enlarge)

Though, I’m supposing for this new twist there must be ways for ads to just appear contextually for place map queries which do not include any sort of keyword. Perhaps that only happens in the Maps API.

This no-brainer integration of ad content, affiliate marketing, flexible API, and well-developed content/utility is the reason why Google continues to gain business and user-devotion. Good job, Google!

Now, the question will be — when might people be able to do self-service to buy the ads in Google Maps?!? I haven’t looked recently, but I’m supposing that these are primarily large-brand and/or national ads, since I haven’t seen any mentions of new targeting factors in the advertising blogs and forums…

LocalServe was developed by one of the development teams reporting to me during the past year before I left, and it was quietly in beta release up until now.

This is a great way for local info sites and vertical industry-related sites to make money, and the content is perfectly compatible for those niche markets. Superpages has a very rich set of general listings and local search advertisers which can enhance the content of local and vertical sites, while also providing a good revenue stream.

A hearty congratulations to two of my developers who put so much time and effort into it - Vlad Gutnyk and Roger Berry! Well done! They worked closely with Jim McDonald (Business Development Department) who was the product manager who provided the business requirements and user-acceptance criteria for the project.

Here’s a sampling of a few of the early adopters of the LocalServe program - you can view the content on their sites:

• Pegasus News, www.pegasusnews.com
• ResearchSpot, www.refspot.com
• catchTomorrow, www.catchtomorrow.com