Google today introduced a new feature in beta for its U.S. mapping service: sponsored icons.
Miniature brand logos will now pop up in lieu of the generic, gray icons consumers commonly encounter when searching for nearby destinations using Google Maps. The feature allows advertisers to prominently display their businesses to users, while giving consumers quick and easy access to useful information.
Matthew Leske, a product manager on Google Maps, said the initiative is part of the search giant's efforts to enhance its user experience. By highlighting venues such as pubs, restaurants and fast-food chains, or even services like ATMs, consumers can easily locate the information they're looking for, he said.
"It's easy to recognize, so I can either pay attention to or ignore it, but [either way] it's more information per pixel on the map," he said.
Google, which began testing the enhancement in Australia in March, decided to extend the feature to the U.S. after interest from American advertisers. The sponsored icons project launches with four U.S. advertisers: Bank of America, HSBC, Target and Public Storage. These brands' icons are now starting to emerge on Google Maps when they happen to appear in nearby searches.
Though businesses ranging from bakeries to pet shops and even public attractions like city parks currently show up on Google Maps, the sponsored icons feature is available only to advertisers with a well-known brand and multiple locations, Google said. Size isn't necessarily what matters; HSBC is a much smaller and New York-concentrated bank compared to BofA. What is more important is that consumers are aware of the brand and it's widely accessible.
"Our key focus is to build a really good product that works well for end users and advertisers," Leske said. Asked whether it will become a permanent mapping component, Google said the feature is currently in an experimental test stage and future rollout will depend on results.
"In an ideal world, we get [a] formula right and then see where it goes," Leske said. The search giant will provide metrics such as the number of impressions and unique users to companies that use it, he added. Pricing is on a CPM basis, and advertisers pay only when their logos appear. (A participating brand's logo will not show up if it's not deemed relevant to the user's immediate search.)
David Collins, marketing director at Public Storage, said his company decided to participate in the launch as "convenience of location is a very important benefit for our consumers."
"Making it easy to find one of our 2,000-plus locations nationwide is just one way Public Storage" can accomplish this, he said. "The icon [feature] moves us toward this goal of being everywhere a customer may be looking for us in a way that is easy and respectful of their time."
But Google, which will subsequently introduce the feature to mobile phones, isn't the only firm upping the ante on directions-based searches. In June, AOL-owned Mapquest also introduced more simplified and enhanced features, including an easier-to-use query box and social networking capabilities.
More than a response to Mapquest, however, Google's latest move may be seen as part of an industry-wide shift towards location-based marketing. Social networking sites like Twitter already allow users to identify their location, and, earlier this month, Facebook introduced a feature called Facebook Places that lets users do the same.
"So more than a response to perceived competition from Mapquest, this looks like a response to Facebook Places. Increasingly, Google and Facebook -- large networks with millions of daily users -- [are finding] themselves on a collision course, both competing to own the nexus of social, location and commerce, and both working to provide the greatest value to marketers," wrote eMarketer senior analyst Noah Elkin in an e-mail.
