Do you often wonder what your friends are up to or maybe the exact location of your husband/wife when they claim to be “working late”?   With the recent launch of Google Latitude, technology is getting closer.

Google Latitude is a new feature in the Google Maps application that allows you to keep tabs on your friends and family by knowing their exact location and status at all times.   Latitude is an opt-in-only feature. No one will be able to see your location, or vice versa unless both parties agree to participate.  To avoid appearing creepy, Google incorporated easy-to-change privacy settings so that locations can be automatically detected, manually entered or completely hidden from other people. If you choose to opt in, you always have the option to sign off or opt out of Latitude altogether. Once opted into Latitude, you can share, set, hide, or even display only a city-level location with certain friends. You can also choose allow your location to automatically update every several minutes while you are on the move. 

Depending on your mobile specifications, Latitude either uses GPS satellites,  cell-tower locations, or WiFi to determine your physical location.  It currently works on Google’s G1, most Blackberry’s, and some other smart phones.  According to Google, the iPhone, iPod Touch, and many Sony Ericsson devices will support Latitude soon.  People who have compatible mobile devices must either upgrade their current version of Google Maps, and/or install Google maps for the first time in order to use Latitude.  
Along with their locations, friends can also share other information on Latitude by uploading a status message and/or a personal photo, which appears as a tiny representative icon on a map (see image below).  Changes to one’s status or picture will be reflected in the map, as well as in Google Talk. The technology also allows users to communicate with participating friends via: text messages, instant messages, or phone.

If you don’t have a compatible phone mentioned above, or don’t carry your phone to the office, Google Latitude will work on your PC as well.  You can share your location manually with the iGoogle gadget, or use your computer’s WiFi location. 

Even though it isn’t the first of its kind, Google Latitude appears to be relatively accurate and user friendly at first glance.  If you choose to opt in, keep in mind that the results are not 100% accurate, and Google is working hard to constantly improve the application.

Google announced last week that advertisers can now display their text and image ads on the iPhone, G1 and other mobile devices with full internet browsers on Google Adwords.

In the past, mobile advertising has not been well-received because advertisers were required to create unique landing or mobile pages. With the dramatic rise in the popularity of mobile devices with full internet capabilities, such as iPhones, mobile advertising is on the cusp of exploding. According to an article on SearchEngineWatch.com, around 95% of all mobile searches are conducted on the iPhone. AdWords offers the option to run your ads at the campaign level, which means that you can create specific campaigns for mobile devices. This also means you can allocate a budget for mobile advertising, create custom or local targeting and view performance reporting that is unique to your mobile campaigns. Perhaps the most exciting dimension is the ability to tailor your ad copy solely for users on their mobile devices. The mobile user may also be closer to a decision making point in the buying cycle. For example, if a mobile user is looking for restaurants in Chicago, they are most likely deciding where to eat right then and there. Having a presence for that type of search is crucial because you can capture that potential customer almost immediately.

Don’t discount the power of a mobile advertising strategy. Having great ad copy and even a great promotion to get customers to your brick and mortar store are essential. It is also important to include an enticing call to action. Using my previous example of someone searching for restaurants in Chicago, you might want your ads to say “Get 10% off your entire check. Find out more now.” On your landing page, you can offer a promotional code word for mobile users to get their discount. The possibilities are endless. You just need to think outside the box, get creative and have some fun.

Just like all businesses in tough economic times, Google is finding ways to increase the online advertising opportunities for marketers.  Google has been offering new areas on several of their products for marketers to place online ads.  Interestingly, they aren’t making it outwardly known to marketers where this new ads real estate is.  But, if you do some research, you’ll start to find new online ads displayed in areas once not possible.  I’ll explore some advertising opportunities that are new for you to consider.  

I was recently on youtube.com searching for a new song I had heard, and in doing so, noticed a new category called “promoted videos”.  I hadn’t seen this before, and wondered to myself, how long has this been here?  Did I just notice this?   So, as any online marketer would do, I started to research how videos are populated in this new category.  I found out that Google has made a cost per click program for video content, and it works similarly to that of an AdWords campaign.  I think it’s a great idea.   There are thousands of videos being posted to youtube.com on a daily basis, making it a challenge to ensure that your video content stays in the top listings. Given this challenge, this is a wonderful solution to have your video show up during relevant searches.  If you post videos on youtube.com, I would definitely look into this new online advertising opportunity. 

I also noticed recently that on another Google Product, Google Images (www.google.com/images), that they are now offering sponsored listings.   This is another area previously not possible to advertise.  Since this listing is image based, it is particularly ideal for e-commerce sites to place online ads.  The number of sponsored listings they are offering is pretty limited. So far I’ve only seen 2 sponsored listings per page for any particular search query.  However, since this is so new, there isn’t much competition yet.  If you are looking for another great way to advertise online, this is definitely another great avenue to look into.

I am sure most of you know by now that Google Maps has been starting to offer sponsored listings. This isn’t as new, but just as important to highlight. For those of you who haven’t already done so, your business should have a listing in Google Maps.  There is good reason why, too! By having your business listed in Google Maps, you have the ability to be placed in two of Google’s most popular products. Google.com pulls in relevant Google Map listings, and then of course, you get your listing on the actual Google Maps product. Now, take this strategy a step further and add a sponsored listing on Google Maps.  The result is having 3 places that you’re ads are appearing, increasing your exposure, and boosting your brand awareness.  I’d say this is a pretty good bang for your buck!  If you’re looking to make sure you’re efficiently spending your online advertising budgets, this should be a no-brainer.

These ideas will help you to start doing some exploration on Google’s products and find where the different online advertising opportunities are, beyond the traditional AdWords campaigns.  Google has many products and many advertising opportunities on each of them.  The associated costs are lower, since not as many marketers are taking advantage of them yet.  I would encourage you to look into incorporating these strategies into you online advertising campaigns.