In the United States, the holidays are often seen as a time for the “three F’s”: fun, family, and food. From our Thanksgiving feasts to the Christmas ham, Americans love indulging in traditional foods during this time of year. Even with its pulse on American desires, Google has released a delicious new advertising feature right in time for Thanksgiving.
This new take on advertising caters perfectly to one specific group: caterers (and, of course, people who want to purchase their services). The feature, already known to many, is called the “Google products extension,” and it’s what allows price, location, and images to be displayed directly in the ad results.
Google pointed to one specific entrepreneur who’s making use of this feature to promote his business, a man named Hohorst, owner of the Cajun Grocer. This man’s specialty is nothing more than the “turducken” — perhaps the dish that best represents the American pastime of overindulgence. According to this case study, the Cajun Grocer has seen phenomenal growth as they moved away from simple word-of-mouth and toward AdWords as their primary advertising mechanism.
The products extension will allow caterers and other food groups to advertise to local searchers, giving these audiences the price and mouthwatering product pictures right in the Google search page. With so many feasts around the corner, there’s little doubt that food and catering companies will have a great opportunity on their hands.
Certainly, this extension can be used for other business types as well. Many gift companies are using this option to provide beautiful pictures and relevant information to customers, and holiday advertisers seem happy with the new option across the board. The seasonal goodies likely win out more than other companies, however. After all, nothing cries out “buy me” quite like a picture that makes the searcher drool.
