Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

here comes the gunk

So much for simplicity.

The New York Times reported yesterday that, as part of its new deal with AOL, Google may start experimenting with graphical ads, a departure from its trademark text-only look. (“ AOL Coaxes Google to Try Busier Ads” - 12/20/05)

The executives close to the talks said that at AOL’s request, Google would begin to test various forms of graphical ads, and that it would make the same formats available to other advertisers. Google has started to sell graphical ads for placement on other sites; plans to do so on Google itself were accelerated by the AOL talks, an executive involved in the negotiations said.

Graphical advertisements, like the common rectangular ads known as banners, have been a feature of most commercial Internet sites for a decade. Google made a name for itself, in part, because it went without graphical ads in favor of small text advertisements linked to the topics for which users search. Google’s simple pages, quick to load and easy to read, helped the site build a following, and text advertisements proved valuable to marketers looking for people interested in their products…

One format being discussed is a box, which may include a photograph and a logo, that would appear on the main search results pages toward the bottom of the advertisements in the right-hand column. Traditional banner ads may appear on Google Image Search and the Froogle shopping site, which already include many photographs, an executive involved said. No advertising is contemplated for the Google home page.