If you can think of a way in which Google could monetize something, feel free to contact the company; it would probably be all ears. Google’s made revenue-seeking moves ranging from quite smart to questionable recently, and the sheer volume of them is starting to add up to a significant grab.
We can start with the G1 plug placed on Google.com. This almost appears to be the company’s answer to all of the iPhone commercials and Apple’s simultaneous criticism of Microsoft’s ad budget. Google gets to tell a huge audience about its product without spending a dime.
Next, we have the ads appearing on Google Maps, and Nicholas Carlson writes, “For the first time, Google is also showing AdWords listings against some image results.” Their placement seems clever; they should answer a genuine need.
But on the other end of the scale, there are the YouTube ads that may not be good at selling products and are almost sure to annoy users. And advertisers won’t be happy if they lose clicks due to something else Carlson covered: “Google search ads can now include a ‘show products’ button that expands to show a merchant’s products and push other ads down the page.”
Google hasn’t gone all-out, however. Google Earth for iPhone appears to lack ads, for example. The company’s fans and shareholders can assume it hasn’t become desperate, then, and anyone wanting a job as some sort of consultant should still feel free to move in.
