Mobile Ads? Do they work?

Many mobile devices, such as smartphones, have full Internet browsers. These browsers can display websites similar to the ones you’d see on a desktop computer, as well as mobile optimized sites.  Mobile Optimized sites are those sites that have been built to automatically adjust how and what is displayed, depending on the consumer’s device.  For example, an optimized site will change the way it displays the menu so that a mobile consumer can easily navigate without a mouse.  Some mobile optimized sites will automatically hide content that is difficult to read on a small screen.  High-end mobile devices can also host apps, which people can download from the app store in their device, or from a website.

The wide variety of media available on mobile devices means you can show ads in many different formats. Testing your message using multiple ad formats can help you understand what drives customers to your website or to download your mobile app. However, in general, starting by tailoring your message to be compelling to customers on mobile devices can help your ads look and perform much better in any format.

To make sure your ad looks great on the small screen, you can create a mobile-optimized ad with a message, display URL, and landing page specifically for mobile devices. To do so, select the “Mobile” checkbox next to the “Device preference” setting. If your ad groups contain ads that are eligible to appear on all devices and mobile-optimized ads, only your mobile preferred ads will appear on mobile devices.

Types of mobile ads

• Text ads
• Image ads
• Mobile app promotion ads
• Call-only ads

The great thing about Google is that you can experiment with what works for your market, your business and you can do so without spending a lot of money or signing for long term contracts.  And you can easily see in hard numbers, what is working or not working.

So, yes mobile ads work – you have to do the work to word them in a way that is effective for your business goals.