Targeting Gmail

targeting gmail for content ads

[DaveMaxG]

I've been trying to locate information on designing a campaign to specifically target gmail users. Being that advertising is such a big part of this service, I'm surprised to find almost no information on this subject.

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to do this?

Thanks,

Dave

[justshelley]

I got a similar request for this a few weeks ago and also came up empty handed for information on this option.

[Tropical Island]

I use content advertising with good success.

I regularly check the websites where my ads appear & Gmail accounts for 10's of thousands of impressions every week.

As I am in the tourist industry I felt that every time an e-mail goes out with the name of our area in it our ad would show up.

The idea obviously works however I get virtually no clicks & fewer conversions from 1000's & 1000's of impressions.

I have a feeling that the Gmail ads program is not working as it was intended. It wouldn't surprise me if there were major changes to the presentation platform in the future.

When I am reading e-mails I don't even see the ads on the right.

[justshelley]

The only Google email ad that I have ever clicked on was one by the Spam food company that came up when I clicked on an email for a spam warning. I just thought that was hilarious or maybe a brilliant (and definitely low budget) marketing move by the company that makes Spam.

[DaveMaxG]

Though I have no data to support it, it seems to me that if you are communicating with someone about a problem and there are ads that offer a solution to that problem, it could be significantly more effective than the other form of content advertising.

To me, it seems just a little closer to the concept of search marketing, albeit a little bit intrusive and freaky.

Anyone have any positive results that they can share?

[tomasvdb]

i've been using gmail for nearly 4 years now, and never clicked on an ad. however i do regularly take note of the ads because they are generally a source of great amusement. Google's 'contextual targeting' is so bad that randomly picked ads would probably be more relevant.

To me, Gmail looks like Adsense's freakshow...

[justshelley]

You know Dave might have been onto something from the perspective of emotional keyword targeting. How many emails are about happy, sad, mad, angry, @#%!%, etc? You might be able to mix your regular keywords with emotional keywords and find your ads showing on gmail. Of course they will also show on forum discussions where the communication is also very emotional.