Google to Launch Targeted App Install Ads

Google app reengage HotelstonightGoogle is to launch targeted app install ads on its mobile search and YouTube channels. Advertisers using Google’s AMob network will be able to target app install ads at users based on the apps they use, the frequency of use and the types of in-app purchases they make.

For example, the company says in a blog post, if you exercise regularly and use an app to measure how far you run, you might see an ad for an app that helps you measure the foods you eat and calories consumed. On YouTube, Google is enabling app installs as an enhancement to the current TrueView offering.

Google is also offering a way for advertisers to re-engage consumers with their apps installed on the consumer’s phone by integrating app deep linking with its AdWords program. Citing a 2013 Digital Trends stat that over 80 per cent of downloaded apps are used only once and then deleted, it describes how the new app re-engagement campaign type in AdWords for search and display will enable consumers clicking on an ad to be taken directly into already-installed apps.

For example, if someone has the HotelTonight app installed on their phone and searches for “hotels in San Francisco” on Google.com, if they click on the resulting Hotels.com ad returned in the search results, they can be taken directly to the specific page in the HotelTonight app dealing with hotels in San Francisco.

The features will roll out over the next few months. The app install ad feature follows the launch of similar solutions from Facebook, Yahoo and Twitter in recent months. Facebook, in particular, has enjoyed massive success with app install ads.