Google begins text ads in its Google Maps service

Along with the rest of the tech industry last week, Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) saw its stock price plummet. In the last two weeks, GOOG shares have seen a tailspin of $100 per share knocked off. While that would seem cause for concern for some companies, remember that Google fundamentally is still very strong: very little debt and billions in cash for just about anything it wants.

One thing it appears to want is more advertising revenue. In fact, the company made a move last week that we should all expect to see with the majority of Google's products in the next year or two: ads next to its web services. Starting with Google Maps, the company started supplying text advertising to the bottom of its Google Maps service. Add to that the "click-to-buy" buttons showing up on some YouTube videos and Google seems to be using the trial-and-error method to see how it can expend it advertising revenue reach beyond search.

TechCruch reported that comScore's rating for Google Maps in August was 131 million unique visitors with 1.3 billion page views. It makes sense for Google to tap advertising into this product just based on those number alone. but, it can't just think plugging relevant text ads (as in search) will magically work. Google could stand to get innovative and find a way to really make interactive advertising work on Google Maps. If it can repeat the success of innovation within different ad models in its wide array of products, Google will be unstoppable. To many, it's already there. but, there is still room to grow.