Last month, Google announced the advent of “Tags.” For $25 monthly, businesses can leverage these yellow symbols to communicate additional information. Tags rolled out initially on a trial basis in 11 cities. As of late last week, they are becoming available nationwide.
Tags appear below a business’s listing and carry information such as coupon offers, sales and website URLs. Starting with the states where the previous 11 trial cities are located, the goal is to roll them out across the U.S. Currently, the only place they are available statewide is in California.
The next states they will be available in will include Georgia, Texas, Colorado, Illinois and Washington.
Location-based advertising has proven very profitable, as we have reported before. One in four U.S. adults use location-based services. Half of those users engage with location-based advertisements on those services. Check-in service Foursquarehas grown wildly. Competitors like TopGuest have entered the arena, offering real-world deals.
We looked up vinyl, books, shoes, archery and other searches in both San Francisco and Seattle to no effect. (The screenshot above is from the Google announcement) Admittedly, this is in the early stages. But, Google Tags will prove useful, to both businesses and customers, only if they get used and get seen.
Thanks to Charly Omer
