ASPCA Animated Ad in Google Search Results
(Click on image for full view.)

My girlfriend noticed this as she was searching for a product on Google tonight, May 3, 2012 around 11:30 PM EST. I was unable to see this on two other laptops at home so it appears Google may be slowly rolling out this functionality. Apparently, the ads display beside select listings in search results and we saw them appear with the following queries:

• clinique exfoliating scrub
• reversa eye care
• Estee Lauder Smoothing Creme Concealer

These were just a few queries she typed at the time so of course, other queries would likely display the animation as well, if Google has rolled out the advertising feature with your account. She was using the Firefox web browser.

The dog beside one of the listings was animated and ‘ran’ off the screen which was very interesting. If Google ends up extending this functionality to all advertisers, this would certainly be a great revenue driver for Google and, with the additional visibility, could help convert more leads for advertisers.

Google has a similar ‘call out’ graphic for advertisers at the moment, but only if they purchase AdWords ads that appear in the right column of organic search results (or above and below these results). If the advertisers use Google Checkout, a Google Checkout button appears below their ad, making it stand out better among other ads.

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

Off topic, thought it would be nice to link to the ASPCA donation page. Many homeless pets do need proper care to survive.

UPDATE – May 4, 2012, 11:37 PM
Upon further investigation, it appears a Firefox extension called We-Care Reminder was installed by another program/process without my girlfriend’s knowledge. This extension places ads within Google organic search results and various web sites to help encourage charitable donations. Not actually tied to Google or their AdWords program in any way as We-Care Reminder is a browser extension that incorporates additional functionality to web sites.