Google to Debut 'Circular' Display Search Ads, Generated on the Fly

Same as it did with search results, Google's success in advertising is largely due to its simple yet effective text ads that show up on its search page. Yet Google is moving to obsolete the three-line ads that it made famous in the first place.

Now, one third of search ads are "enhanced," as Google puts it, meaning they add media features, like video, are location-based or use social features, like the +1 button.

At the beginning of the year, only a quarter of Google search result ads were "enhanced." And Google plans to move even faster.

It is also getting ready to unveil a new type of display search ad, for retailers in particular. These ads will feature large photos and big print and be a kind of web-based circulars.

The ads will be displayed when someone clicks on a regular search ad on Google. It's unclear if this means an overlay page on top of the regular search results page, or a new page altogether.

According to Bloomberg, these ads will be constructed on the fly, using the query, the users' location and other factors into account.

That sounds very familiar to the technology built by Teracent, an ad company Google bought in 2009. Teracent would deliver dynamic display ads, built on the spot based on various factors.

Google is touting its "enhanced" ads line with a new website designed to showcase the different types of search ads it now offers, touting their flexibility.

The ads can contain more than just a link and some text, advertisers can enable video, maps, product prices or photos, +1 recommendations, reviews and many other "enhancements."

The new site is built on the idea that the best ads are simple "answers" and that if you provide users with the information they need and are already looking for, in an ad, they will obviously click on it.