Google tests letting brands turn Google+ content into +Post ads for its display network of over 2 million sites

Google today announced it is testing a new type of monetization for Google+ called +Post ads. In short, the company is letting select brands turn Google+ content into display ads.

Google says +Post ads are a brand-friendly format because they allow companies to take a piece of their public Google+ content. These can be basic status updates, but they can also include photos, videos, and even Hangouts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yCUgx7H2zo

With a few clicks, Google says brands can turn any of them into a display ad that can run across its over 2 million sites in the Google Display Network. “This lets brands think of the entire web as their social stream,” the company says.

The new +Post ads fit into Google’s strategy for more engaging advertising:

Bringing together the sharing capabilities of Google+ and the reach of our ad products has already allowed advertisers to better connect with customers, and customers to better discover what others are thinking. For example, showing social annotations on search ads has helped increase click through rates, and advertisers that ran Hangouts on Air in the YouTube masthead have seen strong participation.

Similarly, +Post ads will allow advertisers to start conversations right from the ad – consumers can reshare a video, leave a comment or a question for the brand, or even join a live Hangout. These conversations create a valuable community around a brand where people can talk with each other and with the brand itself.

Google says a select group of partners, including Toyota USA (as you can see in the video above) as well as Mondelez brands RITZ crackers and Cadbury UK are already running +Post ads. The company says they are seeing expansion rates 50 percent higher than the industry average for rich media ads.

That figure is of course still very early and not worth getting too excited about until it can be confirmed by a third-party. Still, right now it looks like Google has a new winning advertising strategy on its hands that it says will be open to additional advertisers “over the next few months.”

See also – Google+ starts offering custom URLs to accounts that are 30+ days old, have 10+ followers and a profile photo and Google launches restricted Google+ communities to let businesses make conversations private or invite-only