Google puts more advertising in its Maps service

The company is currently experimenting with a range of new formats on Google Maps, explained Sridhar Ramaswamy, the manager responsible for advertising, on Tuesday. These include, for example, "sponsored pins", which in future could draw attention to nearby cafés, petrol stations or restaurants during a search. Ramaswamy announced that there would be a series of changes to the advertising products "later this year". The main aim is to better reach smartphone users with ads. The Google manager explained that advertisers should be able to reach customers who are in their vicinity via the Google search engine or the map service. The changes also affect the display of sponsored links above the results of a Google search. The titles and descriptions of these links will therefore be longer. Advertisers are to be given "more advertising space" - optimized for the smartphone screen - in order to better present their products and services even before the customer clicks on them.

According to Google, initial tests of the new features showed a 20 percent increase in clicks. This benefits not only advertisers, but above all the internet giant, as Google is paid by them per click. Google is the money machine for its parent company Alphabet. The internet service earns money primarily from online advertising. In the first quarter, Google generated revenues of 18 billion dollars from advertising - an increase of 16 percent compared to the previous year. (SDA)