Dive Brief:
- Google’s new AdWords Real-Time Ads format will let marketers pre-create ads with an element, such as text or a photo, that can be immediately updated to capitalize on real-time events described by the Internet giant as "micro-moments."
- In the past, Twitter has often been the venue of choice to react to real-time events, such as the "left shark" in Katy Perry's Super Bowl halftime show last year, or the power going out in the New Orleans Super Dome during the 2013 Super Bowl. Brands like Jim Beam, Oreo and Tide took advantage of the lights going out, sending tweets that resonated with otherwise unhappy viewers, garnering thousands of retweets and buzz.
- According to Marketing Land, brands like Comcast are already lining up to take advantage of Google's Real-Time Ads format for the upcoming Oscars, and per YouTube's blog post, Wix.com plans to use it for the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.
Dive Insight:
"With Real-Time Ads brands will be able to instantly run an ad across YouTube, hundreds of thousands of apps, and over two million sites in our Google Display Network with a message that ties directly to the big moment consumers just experienced," Natalie Marchant, YouTube sponsorships program manager, wrote in a blog post about the new ad format.
Google is also preparing for its eighth year for the YouTube AdBlitz channel and website featuring Super Bowl ads. The tech giant has said 37% of time spent viewing Super Bowl ads in 2015 happened before the game, and that the equivalent of 1,600 years of Super Bowl ads were viewed on YouTube in total last year.
"What's unique about real-time ads is the ability to do that in video and display with the reach and scale and power of the platform, which as you find out is relatively incomparable," Tara Walpert Levy, managing director of agency sales at Google, said at a press event attended by Adweek.
In other Google news, it received a patent on a process to suggest how links shared via email should be shared on social media, somewhat automating the process as well as giving Google some level of control over social sharing.
