If we held a contest between “text” on one side and “images” on the other, images would win by a landslide. In fact, our brain processes a photo 60,000 times faster than a word. With this in mind, Google AdWords’ new feature is a change that was bound to come sooner or later.
AdWords has launched a beta version that lets you add images to text ads, aiming to turn its traditional ads into more striking, engaging elements. Google’s only requirements are that the advertiser owns the rights to the images, and it will review the content before publishing to make sure everything is in order. According to official AdWords information, this is roughly what the new ad will look like.
image: adwords.blogspot.ie
This feature is implemented through the “ad extensions” service. Until now, you could add phone numbers, locations, ratings and links, and the system even lets you show how many followers the page has on Google Plus. Adding images is one more step toward grabbing users’ attention.
The extension is live worldwide but is currently only available in English. It is still a fairly limited version and may not appear automatically in every account. However, if you’re eager to try it and can’t wait, you can ask Google directly for access through this link: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/imageextinterest/
Perhaps in the future text ads will also be able to include short videos showing online stores’ products… For now, we’ll have to wait.
