After having monetized on its advertising programs for so long and taking the cash while only offering a platform and a few choices to advertisers, Google is now finally sharing with the world what only few have been able to test since January: demographic targeted ads. The feature was announced with little buzz, but the feedback the Google AdWords team received from those 'on the inside' made them decide it should be made available to everybody.

Demographic bidding helps advertisers target their ads to users of a particular age group or a particular gender and even to combinations of the two. For example, using this feature will not have ads for Viagra running on a forum that was meant for teens or surf boards and bungee-jumping cords on a site dealing with heart problems. The demographical bidding can be used with both contextual or placement targeting and also with both CPC and CPM bidding.

This new means of controlling the display of ads comes along with a feature called Demographic Reports, that shows advertisers how their content performs for specific demographics before having to make an adjustment to the scheme in use. It's a sure way to hone the ads for the best audiences, most clicks and best ROI.

Another thing highlighted by the members of the AdWords crew was that demographic bidding is not the same as demographic site selection, the two being different ways of ad-targeting. The latter can be found in the AdWords Placement Tool and helps advertisers find and target an entire website that based on comScore data has a specific target audience. The former lets a user modify his bids and / or restrict the ads' visibility based on age and gender on the Google content network sites.