If you’ve ever run across Google’s mobile search results when looking for a game, you’ll have noticed a nice interface which links you to an app in Google Play, but Google is looking at other options including streaming a game to your device to try.
The new feature called ‘Search Trial Run Ad’ was bundled with other ad options for developers, which include Portrait Video Ads, which allow for full-screen, immersive video ads making for a better viewing experience for phones which are mostly held in portrait orientation as well as targeting ads at users who have either spent more than 30 minutes playing games or played a game with Google Play Games integration within the last 30 days.
Trial Run Ads will launch in the next few weeks and offer users a way to try a developers game they search for. When searched, a ‘Try Now’ button will appear and then allow users to trial a game for up to 10 minutes, at which point an offer is made to install the game. The Try Now option will only be offered to users on a smartphone connected to Wi-Fi to ensure a good experience and pre-empt any excess data charges.
You can see how this will work with SGN’s Panda Pop here:
Google thinks the new Trial Run ads will drive engagement and it could go quite a long way to broadening reach, trying a game is definitely a way to hook you if the premise is good. We’ll start seeing these in the next few weeks.
