Product extensions now available on mobile devices

Over the last year, smartphones have become an indispensable shopping companion for mobile users on the go. Our recent Smartphone User Study found that 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping activities, such as finding more product info, comparing prices or locating a retailer.  So today we are excited to announce that we’re bringing two desktop ad formats to the mobile platform that help advertisers meet these key mobile shopper needs: Product Extension Ads and Product Local Ads.

Product Extension Ads
Product Extension Ads enable you to easily display relevant product images and details directly in your mobile search ads. Since many mobile users are searching for product information while they are in a store or on the go, including this type of information in your ads can help you stand out by highlighting the products you carry and help drive mobile conversions for specific products on your site.  Product Extension Ads are enabled by linking your Google Merchant Center account to your AdWords campaign. When your mobile search ad appears, and your Google Merchant Center account contains products that are relevant to the searcher’s query, Product Extensions show the product images, titles, and prices of your products in a plusbox under your ad.

Product Local Ads
An enhancement to Product Extension Ads, Product Local Ads show the actual availability of products in local stores along with the product image and price all within the mobile ad.
This ad format takes advantage of one of the things that makes mobile uniquely powerful, the phone's greater location aware capabilities. That's why we're especially excited to bring Product Local Ads to mobile where location is even more relevant to user's searches. Now advertisers can better show what they have in-stock to users who are nearby and ready to buy their products. With the same Smartphone User Study showing that 54% of smartphone shoppers use their phones to locate a retailer and 34% search for a store’s product inventory, Product Local Ads help mobile shoppers complete their goals and can drive more in-store purchases.

Product Local Ads are eligible to show based on location signals such as as local search queries and device location which users opt-in to share. Currently available as a limited beta, Product Local Ads require you to submit your local product inventory data to Google through a Google Merchant Center account and submit your business information to Google through a Google Places account. Learn more.

Together both of these new mobile ad formats can help you build a strong cross-channel strategy as Product Extension Ads help drive online sales and Product Local Ads can help drive offline sales with increased foot traffic to local stores.

At this time Product Extensions Ads are available in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Australia on mobile devices with full Internet browsers. Product Local Ads are available in the United States. For instructions on how to link your Google Merchant Center account with your AdWords campaigns to take advantage of these ad formats, please review this Help Center article.

We’re constantly working to bring new and better ways for our advertisers to connect with customers. We hope you’ll find Product Extension Ads and Product Local Ads for mobile useful in your campaigns and in growing your business.

Posted by Surojit Chatterjee, Product Manager, Mobile Ads