What would the change mean for your ad campaigns?

If you run pay per click ads on Facebook, you’re probably familiar with carousel ads. Facebook allows advertisers to upload multiple images to create ads that users can click through like a carousel. This provides advertisers with more flexibility in terms of what products or services they want to promote at any given time.

With each image Facebook advertisers can add a unique description, call to action and URL. This allows businesses to feature multiple products, services or sales – eliminating the need to create multiple ads.

Unlike traditional ads that only allow advertisers to feature one image, carousel ads not only provide businesses with the ability to promote multiple offerings, but are also more engaging for the end-user. Until now, Adwords has not offered advertisers a way to include multiple images in paid search results.

New Carousel Ads Coming to AdWords

Google AdWords is testing carousel ads on mobile with select advertisers. The new ads are more engaging, and captivate the user’s attention. AdWords is testing the new ad type on its automotive vertical – so currently only car brands are able to test the new ad type. The new ads feature a large image carousel, sitelinks, ad title and URL.

The sitelinks are also stylized at the bottom of the scroll. Users can easily swipe through the ad images, each with its own description and individualized call to action. Users can click on the final image for more information, which gives advertisers another opportunity to promote product details.

Brands like Toyota, Chevy and Volvo have jumped on the opportunity to test the new ad types – each with their own carousel ads displaying their latest vehicles.

The new Google AdWords carousel ad format seems to be exclusive to the vehicle vertical as of now, and only appears on mobile devices where swiping is easy. While this roll-out would be good news to many advertisers, it’s yet another type of ad that will further push down organic search results – making it even harder for small businesses to capture visitors.

What do you think about the new ad type? Would you test it? Do you think the conversion rates will be higher on the carousel than on a traditional display ad? Share your thoughts below.

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