Google updates click-to-message

Google has made their position very clear: for the most popular search engine of our time, the best bet is on smartphones. Before, on pre-Google Maps times, if you ever needed a locksmith, a dentist, an attorney or a witch doctor, you had to go onto the streets or find it on the Yellow Pages. Today, all you have to do is take out your cellphone (which we do at the smallest provocation) and write the word of what we need so that, in a matter of seconds, we get the 10 best options around us.

The greatness and simplicity of text

A little while ago, Google launched an ad extension that allows the user to send a direct message to the business he was looking for. Many companies had the chance to try this tool at first and the results speak for themselves; during the beta testing for this extension, it proved that messages promote click through rate (CTR) of ads up to a 50%, to the point that it rivals the direct call extension. This way, messaging can be helpful to getting a higher relevance and ad quality on Google.

The next step on messaging

Ads must be in constant evolution and even though the extension was a great success it wasn’t without its rough edges. Mainly, publishers reported there was not automatic way of counting how many messages they had from the Google Ad, unless you had a specific number for Google who answered by creating analytics not just for counting messages, but also to know which ad produced more clicks and how many messages were needed to make an appointment.

Also, a general problem with messaging for businesses is that many leads got lost after getting no immediate response, this was easily solved by adding a couple of things: automatic messages that can ask the user’s availability and create an appointment at that moment; and then there’s the message redirection, which sends a message directly to your email if the user sent it on offline hours making it possible to even activate the extension without the need of a cellphone number.

Paving the way for offline conversion

Finally, Google is moving more and more towards metrics that connect online numbers with offline by launching the Store Visits platforms that was recently in beta testing. This new tool allows us to get information about how our online ads have affected purchases in real life, which is achieved thanks to the users that activated the option to share their previews location on Google anonymously. The tool promises to close more the gap between offline and online not just for Google, but for other internet publishers.

Sometimes it might look like Google only knows to take big steps, and even though these are little fixes on their platform, they speak of a company that listens to the needs of both users and publishers. The ball is now in our court to listen to the clients and look for what better tool works for them, at the same time we must be on the lookout for whatever might help them evolve and stay ahead of the users.

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