The search company will introduce the new ad types to a few US users

Jun 20, 2009 14:37 GMT  ·  By

Google's AdSense program has evolved over the years but the ads on the Google search page, arguably the company's hottest real-estate, haven't moved beyond simple text ads. Now, some reports, citing an email sent to certain advertisers, are claiming Google will introduce a new form of ads that it calls "Product Ads," which show up for some people on its search page as a beta program.

Both the Wall Street Journal and Google Blogoscoped apparently managed to get a hold of that email confirming and detailing the item in question. Product Ads will not replace standard ads for now as Google is using them just for testing purposes and only in the US.

The ads will feature product information like price and images, and companies will be able to sing up for similarly to how they would sing up for the free listings in Google Product Search or Google Shopping.

"Through participation in the Google Affiliate Network product ads beta program, you can promote your products to users actively searching for your products and pay only when users make a purchase on your site," said the email sent to Google customers. "This opportunity is a very tangible benefit of the integration of our affiliate platform into Google. Google is constantly experimenting with new features and visuals to improve ad effectiveness and advance the end user experience."

The pricing model for Product Ads will also differ from standard ads where advertisers pay Google for every click on the links. Now, those signing up for the new type of ads will only pay a fixed commission if the clicks coming from Google generate a sale. Advertisers will set the commission they want to pay and based on that commission, how much the search term matches the product and other criteria the software will decide which ad to display.