Google introduced a new capability for its Lightbox ads today, adding a Google Catalogs integration option for advertisers.
Google first launched the Lightbox ads back in October as part of a set of “engagement ads,” which let advertisers only pay when he user engages with the ad. The ad starts as a display ad, and after a two-second hover, expands to a bigger canvas.
“Brands invest heavily in creating beautiful stories in their printed catalogs, and we want to make it easy for our users to connect with relevant, digitized versions of these catalogs around the web,” says Google senior product manager James Beser. “With Google Catalogs in Lightbox, users can easily flip through the digital catalogs, to see the latest product selections, check product prices, and visit product pages without ever leaving the original page they were browsing. Advertisers pay on a Cost-per-Engagement (CPE) basis — meaning that they pay when a user chooses to read their catalog. And with access to metrics like page flips and product views, advertisers have more customer insight than ever before.”
Here, you can see it in action from Brand USA, a beta tester for the feature:
“We have received positive feedback on this format from users, advertisers and publishers,” says Beser. “Users have responded well to the beautiful, immersive catalog experience. Advertisers have found it easy to create online catalogs within hours, using their existing PDFs and Google Merchant Center feeds. And finally, our publisher partners that have run Lightbox formats have seen their CPMs as much as double.”
Advertisers must contact their Google account team to get started using the new format.
