Google adds paid links to Google Local maps

Yesterday Google expanded AdSense advertising in a direction long expected by many: Google Local. Now for certain searches you may see unfamiliar icons on your maps which, when clicked on, will display paid advertisements for Barnes & Noble or Ralph Lauren, for example. You can see an example here. According to CNet the ads will only show up on Google.com, and not in mash-ups created by third parties, and that analysts are expecting much more interactivity in the future, as videos or live chat in the ad bubbles, though Google says no such features are currently planned. As the ad icons themselves are small and unintrusive and currently the volume of ads is very low, and I suspect Google will keep it that way by restricting the number of ads per keyword (which will in turn drive bids way up), I don't really have a problem with the new ads and some users will probably even find them useful.

Tags: ads, adsense, advertising, google, local, mapping, maps