Google will soon begin to implement “breadcrumb trails” into their text AdWords ads. Breadcrumb trails refer to a set of links that show the path to various categories within a website. In the Google-provided example, a shoe site ad could have breadcrumb links to the subcategories of “women’s shoes” and “sandals”:

The example image below is from a Google support page for AdWords describing the feature as a component of a text ad. The feature has not been officially announced by Google and the only information on it is the AdWords support page and a support page for webmasters. The webmaster support page describes the rich snippet code that can be inserted into a website to enable use of the breadcrumbs feature. The breadcrumbs will taken from annotations on the landing page for ads, putting webmasters in control of what breadcrumb links are created, if any.

The existence of these mentions on support pages means Google is prepared to launch the feature soon, as the company has a history of publishing support pages ahead of product launches.

The AdWords support document makes it clear that clicks on breadcrumb links count the same as clicks on normal cost-per-click (CPC) ads. This means customers will be charged the same amount whether a click occurs on a breadcrumb link or headline. That shouldn’t deter any advertisers, though, whose goal is to get customers onto their site in any way possible. More links in an ad means more ways to get to their site.

What do you think? Will the new breadcrumb trails increase clicks for AdWords text ads? Are you planning to implement them for your site? Let us know in the comments section below.

(via Search Engine Land)