I was looking through the New York Times online this morning, when I noticed something unusual. Off to the right there was a large box with an animated slide show.
First it shows the Google logo, then a search box with blinking cursor. Then the words "Now Playing," which switches to "Search Stories" To that last frame, the Google logo is added, then the "Play" arrow.
Is Google, the company that refuses to show big, animated ads on its own site, creating such ads itself to muck up other sites?
Yes. I clicked on the play button, which took me to a YouTube video -- an animated ad for Google's search engine. It looks like a response to Microsoft's ads mocking Google as giving too many search results, claiming Bing is a "Decision engine."
And this is from the company that has always said text-only ads are the most effective. It has prided itself in rarely running ads itself, relying on word-of-mouth to make its reputation.
Does this mean we'll start seeing Google TV ads soon? Or, if the ad is effective, start seeing animated ads on Google sites?
This looks like the start of a change in Google's ad philosophy to me.