{"id":117182,"date":"2011-06-03T00:16:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-03T05:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/google-further-monetizes-places-by-charging-for-directions\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:41:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T21:41:04","slug":"google-further-monetizes-places-by-charging-for-directions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-ca\/insights\/blog\/local-search\/google-further-monetizes-places-by-charging-for-directions\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Further Monetizes Places by Charging for Directions"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the\u00a0announcement that they will now charge advertisers when searchers click for directions from a local ad<\/a> extension, Google has taken yet another step in its march toward the monetization of the Google Places channel. Since launching location extensions integrated with a Google Places account, Google has been pushing the product hard with local advertisers. I’ve heard many Google account managers promising increased clickthrough rates with local ad extensions (of course, higher clickthrough rates actually benefit Google more than the advertiser).<\/p>\n

Clicks on the little link for directions on a location extension-enabled ad used to be on the house. No more. Now advertisers will pay for those clicks just as they would pay when someone clicks through to their site from the headline of an Adwords ad. So, what’s the big deal? On its face, it only seems right that advertisers would pay for these clicks. They’re getting prominent positioning in the Places channel by bidding on keywords and enabling location extensions. They already pay for clicks on their ad headline (and clicks on the phone number in Google’s mobile network). While it may be subtle, this move is a significant shift.<\/p>\n

Advertisers will now be paying for a click that keeps the user within the Google Maps channel. Although there is new reporting in Adwords to show activity from these clicks, they’re now essentially paying for something that does not result in a visit to their site, and therefore loses all of the tracking that goes with it (coupon conversions, engagement metrics, trackable phone numbers, etc). Advertisers and agencies who report on things like cost per visit and cost per on-site conversion will have to watch this closely and adjust their metrics accordingly.<\/p>\n

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