Google Gallery Ads are just around the corner and they claim to increase search engagement by 25%.

With this possibility and the thrill of a new avenue, we thought we’d dedicate a blog to the Google Gallery Ad and the possibilities it brings with us.

Without any beating around the bush, let’s dive right in.

What do they look like and how are they different from the already existing ads?

The SVP of Google Ads, Prabhakar Raghavan, said in his announcement that, “by combining search intent with a more interactive visual format, gallery ads make it easier for you to communicate what your brand has to offer.”

That’s what they basically achieve.

A Google Gallery Ad will be a set of images (4 to 8) that the searcher will be able to swipe through. Each image will come with a caption/tagline of 70 characters. There will also be a headline, well three actually. The advertiser can test out three potential headlines and then see which one yields the best results and use that one.

The user/prospect will also be able to click on an image to open it with a scroll down option to see the rest. So it’s like a vertical gallery view. And then at the end of it all there will be a Call To Action.

Also, these ads will appear at the top of Google search. And so, it is a big step up for search engagement.

They are resulting in more engagement-25% more engagement to be exact. They are basically designed for it with their swiping and Call To Actions.

What difference will they make?

It’s a new way for advertiser to show the audience what’s good; a new platform to get creative. It is an exciting prospect for retail as advertisers could dedicate a full image and a caption to one product and with different images, be able to showcase multiple products/services thus attracting prospects with differing interests.

The ad game has become even more visual as there is only one tagline supporting an image. And so, the value of the product has to be shown in a different way.

Marketing has always been all about catching people’s attention. For those who have creative ideas and good strategies, being present on the search page with a bunch of your pictures and the possibility for engagement, can be a game changer.

Whether or not this will lead to conversions directly is still debatable and maybe will only be known once they launch. In any case, they will probably do a good job of gaining people’s interest.

The example going around is of a frozen food ad. Google released this example ad to show what it will look like. Even though it is a food related one, it is no hard to imagine what a clothing store can do, or a stationery shop, or anyone really.

Why it’s so exciting

The good thing about any new development or platform is that any spin on the medium is new. Not much has been done yet. Whereas with the regular Google Ads or PPC ads most of everything has already been done, this new realm has a lot of new trends to offer.

There is also more room to surprise. With the others everyone has pretty much seen everything. The swipe feature can even be used to tell a story, or it could be a comic. There are endless possibilities.

We have already discussed the power of images in another blog . Think about that and implicit memory and just imagine the possibilities. You can take your search campaigns to the next level with a good strategy and a good design.

The payment methods

You can be charged for two things.

If the searcher swipes through 3 images, the advertiser will be charged. So, 3 swipes count as one click.

Or the other is the traditional PPC way in which the advertiser is charged for each click on their ad. This is the CTA that you will put at the end.

That’s pretty much all the information we have on this front so far. They are set to release later this year and we are pumped to see what we can achieve through them!