Google properties are opening up for advertisers like never before. On Tuesday, at Google’s Marketing Live conference, the search behemoth said it will begin showing ads on the homepage of its mobile app. In addition, it announced a slew of new advertising products — most notably new formats called Discovery ads and Gallery ads that it will roll out later this year.

Google leads the online advertising space, raking in $116 billion last year but has been facing stiff competition from Amazon and Facebook of late. By unveiling these new formats, the tech giant is clearly upping the game. Discovery Ads will allow advertisers to showcase their brands in a swipeable image carousel across Google properties, be it YouTube home feed, Gmail promotions, social tabs or a consumer’s news feed. The second ad format, Gallery ads, combines search intent with a more interactive visual format, making it easier for brands to communicate offers.

In addition, Google is also revamping the shopping experience. It will display personalised results for shopping search queries and also feature a digital shopping car. Eventually Google will launch a shopping app.

Breaking records

The 12th edition of IPL has broken all viewership records. According to Hotstar, 18.6 million viewers concurrently watched the VIVO IPL 2019 final match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. The earlier record was 12.7 million concurrent users, achieved during an earlier game in the same tournament. Overall, Hotstar says over 300 million users watched the tournament and the platform recorded a 74 per cent increase in watch-time as compared to last year.

While this year the cricket itself contributed to increased viewership with several close finishes, some tech and social media push may have helped. Hotstar streamed the matches on a completely new technology stack that used 10x lesser compute, while handling almost 2.5x times more traffic, rendering better quality at lower bit-rates. Also, an interactive social layer whereby viewers across the country got the opportunity to invite their friends and family to Hotstar, enabling them to watch the matches together while participating against each other in the Watch ‘N Play game helped. 64.4 million users engageon the platform’s Watch ‘N Play social feature.

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