Staying on top
So many things are changing around us — especially on the internet where there are those who get different versions, are part of the beta testing or opt out — don’t you agree that it is hard to stay on top of things? Not only do new features appear for different people at different times, there are just so many of them happening all the time! This post is actually about a feature that has been out there since 2006, at least on the desktop version. It seems that it might only have appeared on the mobile version over the last couple of years.
The right pin on Google Maps
So, the other day I was looking on Google Maps on my iPad on how to get to a restaurant (in London) to meet an old school chum and happened upon a sponsored pin. Of all the times I have used Google Maps, this was the first time it jumped out at me, perhaps because I was using a tablet. It seems every time you blink something new is happening on one or other web, mobile or social network site. But, in this case, I was rather annoyed (enough to write this post!).
Mobile marketing
As you can see, the sponsored link is hard to miss considering the smaller screen (as opposed to on a desktop). As far as I am concerned, this sponsored link concept has a long way to go to be effective. Specifically, rather than find a sponsored link for another restaurant, which would have made sense, I got bothered about a real estate agent, Franklyn James (see below). As a token gesture, I give a link back. But, in reality, I was annoyed because the black box around name (see above), overlaid on top of the restaurant I was trying to find.
Be relevant
So, what does this tell you? Mobile marketing is not just about geo-localization. When “buying” advertising on Google or other social media sites, context is completely relevant. What are the best associated key words? Moreover, the pop up that accompanies the sponsored link (see above) is quite plain and meaningless. Hardly a strong selling point. Make the pop up inviting!
The point: hook and trail
The point is this: make sure you figure out the hook and trail. The hook: contextually relevant tags. The trail: what is the journey that will entice me to click through.
Do any of you have any other experiences with Google Maps that are positive (or negative)? Do share your stories!
Customers have shown anxiety at new versions of products, an increasing trend… what's new is hot, but can burn your time to learn the new device.
Relevant is a "keyword" here. Many times on Google maps I see sponsorship pins that have absolutely no relation or relevance to what I (potential customer) was looking for. Does Google need to look into this issue or write an algorithm that would detect relevance or user behavior?
Hi @Khalid, i am going to have to guess that the algorithm is not optimized yet? Do you have any experience working with them on that? There is such another level to "SEO" … that lives well beyond the first level search engine (text, etc). Enabling a finer contextual search with the right associated keywords is vital wherever search is involved.
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