Ads See Light of Day on Google Image Search

When a Google exec mentions in an interview the search giant is thinking about a new ad product, it’s hard to say whether it will become available to advertisers tomorrow, next quarter, or be swept under the virtual rug. In early May Marissa Mayer said in a Bloomberg Radio interview that monetization of its Image Search was something Google was considering. It was hard to read from the interview, though many interpreted her response as a done deal, when we might see image ads with our image results. Depending on your search queries, that day may be today.

At Google’s factory tour it was discussed that the ad format was being tested. A Google spokesperson provided further information for ClickZ. “As part of our ongoing commitment to innovation and to help users find new and better ways of getting the information they’re looking for, we are currently conducting a small test to show ads on the results page for Google Image Search. The experiment is restricted to a limited number of U.S. advertisers.”

A few random searches turned up no ads so far.