Manthan

As expected Google is now putting up ads on Google Local. For example searching for hotels in NYC area returns results with blue icons for advertised locations. Besides have noticed text ads with links similar to search for some locations like San Diego. Added couple of screen shots below.
This was on expected lines, but there is opportunity for more differentiation between sponsored links and normal results. Right now the ads are differentiated by blue icons and text, as in the case of search results. Google should provide a way for advertisers to make use of Local for running location based marketing campaigns. For example, if one were to search for pizza in San Diego area, immediately the stores that have discounts running or have some promotional offers can show up at the top of the results, besides the normal search results. Say “buy one get one free” kind of thing or 30 % off on select pizza’s. This is bound to drive more business to the store. Advertisers should be allowed to manage these campaigns using adsense, so that such campaigns can be time based or based on sales targets or their ad budgets.

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