Alongside all the announcements of new user features for Google Plus, the latest big news out of the Google camp is for advertisers. The +1 button is coming to Google Display Network ads, hinting at the first monetization channel for the social network and enabling Google users to personalize their ad experiences. Google has shown +1 buttons on search ads since the button’s launch in March.
Ads now join other Google content as part of the company’s personalization efforts with Plus. “A single +1 applies to the same content across the web, no matter where it appears,” the announcement says, meaning that clicking +1 on an ad, a search result, or a Web page has the same effect on one’s interest graph. The +1 button will start appearing on AdSense for Mobile Content text and image ads by early October. Users who don’t want their personal +1 data to be used in ads will be able to opt out in their personalization preferences, even before the ad features go live next month.
On desktop ads, the +1 button will appear at the bottom of display ads alongside the faces of others who have +1d the ad. It will then fade out until the user hovers the mouse over the ad. There’s an ‘X’ to close the overlay.
On mobile ads, the +1 button will replace the ‘g’ logo on the left side for several seconds and then fade out.
Now that personalization with Google Plus has dollar signs attached to it, the path to monetizing the network is more clear. Just in case it unsettles them, though, Google has allowed advertisers to opt out of running +1 buttons in their campaigns.
Personal feedback on ads has worked great for Facebook, but Google’s ad networks have a much broader reach around the Web. By adding its new social layer to its massive ad business, Google can now make the play it has been waiting for all along in its eyeball competition with Facebook.
Do you think +1 recommendations will add value for advertisers? Sound off in the comment.
