It's official: Google has just unveiled sponsored map icons in the United States, which will give businesses the opportunity to pay for their logos to show up directly on Google Maps, indicating the exact location of the business. Google has been toying with this idea for awhile now, even testing it out in Australia and New Zealand for six months before bringing it to the US.
In an attempt to "make Google Maps as reflective of the real world as possible", Google has launched this new feature that provides clickable icons that will appear on the map when users are searching for things.
Google states that they have two main reasons for allowing businesses to brand their locations with their own logos:
1) To help users find familiar brands
2) To help businesses promote themselves
(Not to mention the unspoken reason #3: An increase in revenue for this search engine giant.)
Sponsored map icons are currently in its beta stages; the project launched with four US advertisers including Bank of America, Target, HSBC and Public Storage.
Over the next few weeks, consumers will see an increase in the number of icons displayed on Google Maps as well as an integration of this feature on cell phones.
What do you think about this new sponsored logo feature?
Will your company be paying to have its logo displayed on Google maps?
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