Google has been the undisputed king of search for a while, Microsoft has been trying to catch-up with Bing since it launched in June of 2009. Google contains the lions share of the market at around 68% with Bing coming in 4th according to Wikipedia. Google is keen to retain the lead and has taken to the real world to market Google search, offering some new ads in Sydney, as well as in New York where the push seems particularly hard.
AdWeek has run a nice piece which shows off the new ads embedded in locations around the city, like Katz’s Deli, Brooklyn Bowl and Cafe Reggio. According to Google, the ads are supposed to be about inspiring curiosity and enabling discovery, or as a Google rep told AdFreak :
This is the inspiration behind encouraging New Yorkers to re-look at familiar landmarks—both big and small—in a new light. By pairing interesting questions with visually intriguing placements we hoped to cut through all the sights and sounds of the city that compete for attention.
While not as overt, or as embedded as the New York ads, it appears Google Australia is keen not to leave Sydney behind with the ads. Localised Google Search ads have been showing up on bus stops around Sydney as local tech enthusiast and Ausdroid reader Beau Giles witnessed :
Google also released a new video advert for Google Search on Android and iOS on YouTube today. Titled ‘The Google app: New Puppy’, the ad shows a man and woman using voice search to find the nearest puppy school, search for dog names and pictures of Einstein.
There seems to be a push on at the moment and we’d love to see some of the New York style ads down here.
Have you seen these ads in other locations in Australia?
There’s a ‘nearest ATM’ one on platform 8, Richmond station in Melbourne.