14 DAY TRIAL // Google's stated goal is to make information universally available. Of course, bringing in a few tens of billions in revenue per year in the meantime can't hurt either. The company is always looking for new ways to monetize its properties and now it is previewing a new revenue source for Google Maps in Australia. The mapping service now serves customized company logos for several establishments including places like ATM machines, pharmacies and others.
Companies pay to have their logos featured on Google Maps, but they're not ads in the traditional sense. The system is actually pretty innovative, at least in the sense that no one has tried it before. Companies pay on a per-impression basis rather than a per-click one, as with most of Google's ad offerings.
Also, not all applications are considered, Google has to determine the relevance of the company and the establishment before enabling the custom logos. The relevance of the companies is determined by the number of people searching for them, the number of links to them that gets shared and even Wikipedia entries. Companies will also pay varying fees depending on their business, ATM operators would pay less than a retail store, for example. Logos that don't get too much interaction and interest from the users will be removed after a while.
The feature is now being tested in Australia, a place that was chosen to test other Google Maps ad types in the past. It's not clear when or whether the company will introduce the feature worldwide, but this is largely dependent on the results of the test. There have been indications of the program a few months ago.
The idea is to only have the places that people are actually looking for featured, blending the concern for users' interests with the commercial aspects. If Google manages to find just the right balance, it may have a winning formula, a product that the users actually find relevant, which gets the advertisers more visitors and customers and that brings Google money in the process too. [via the Sydney Morning Herald]