In their first attempt to monetize Google+, Google made an announcement today about the introduction of +Post ads. These new ad units allow users to turn Google+ content into interactive display ads that run on the Google Display Network.
The announcement was made by Google’s Social Ads Product Manager, Eran Arkin, who describes the benefits of +Post ads:
+Post ads allow a brand to take a piece of their public Google+ content, like a photo, video or even a Hangout, and with a few clicks, turn it into a display ad that can run across the more than 2 million sites in the Google Display Network.
Unlike traditional display ads, +Post ads allows users to interact by expanding the ad to see comments from other Google+ members. Users can also share the ad, +1 it, or leave a comment of their own.
According to Arkin, these social annotations have helped brands increase their click-through rates along with expansion rates up to 50% higher than the industry average for rich media ads.
Select brands are already running +Post ads as a test group to collect data and feedback before offering the ad units to additional advertisers.
See the video below for an example of how Toyota is using +Post ads to reach connected consumers:
