Australia leads the way in the next innovation being presented to the online world via Google…

‘Google has turned its popular application into an advertising medium, with Australia the test bed in the search giant’s bid to open new revenue streams.

Australian web surfers have become the first in the world to see advertiser logos on the Google Maps website, highlighting the locations of five companies – NAB, Bankwest, JB Hi-Fi, LJ Hooker and Chemist Warehouse. Fitness First and BP are also understood to be preparing to launch advertising on the service.

The new advertising channel has been developed by Google engineers in Australia and is being piloted in both Australia and New Zealand. If successful, it will be rolled out globally.

The logos will pinpoint the location of advertiser’s stores and outlets, ranging from bank ATMs to petrol stations and coffee shops. Viewers can click through to get information on the store or a corporate website.

Google product manager Matthew Leske said the idea initially had been to make map references more useful to users by using the logos they would see on the street.

‘The primary thing was to help users – how do you help people recognize a location instantly?’ Mr Leske said. ‘The second thing was: how can we let advertisers take advantage of this?’

Advertisers will be charge per thousand views for each logo, even when several logos for a company appear in the same view – but the system will also show logos based on the relevance of the consumer’s search,

The function will be available on desktop and laptop PCs first, and eventually on mobile phones using Google’s Android operating system.’

Source: The Australian