Back in early 2016, Google launched Automotive ads, a new, highly visual mobile ad format, for all automotive (original manufacturers) advertisers in the US, due to a spike in mobile searches for auto make & model images.

Now in 2019, Google have announced they’ll be extending this image heavy ad format to all advertisers later in the year.

This was an attempt to emulate the showroom experience found in car dealerships, by combining information with images to help car shoppers inform their buying journey faster than ever before.

The striking thing about these ad images is that they’re large, and one can swipe through up to eight of them, straight toward an eventual call-to-action link to the advertisers landing page. They can be browsed vertically or horizontally in a carousel, and are only available on mobile devices.

Why you should care?

In what Google calls micro-moments, shoppers will look at many aspects of the research & buying journey, gathering as much insight as possible before actually purchasing a vehicle.

These ads are charged according to the usual search text ad cost per click model, bringing great value to advertisers at little extra cost.

Much like the visual shopping ads Google offers, this new format promises to have a very positive effect on conversion rates. The original GoogleBlog post announcing Automotive Ads, reported that Toyota saw a hefty “45% increase in conversion events” compared to regular text ads. That is an impressive improvement in engagement, and undoubtedly revenue.

Tags: Gallery Ads, Google ads