Google Promotes Boost To All Of U.S., Mobile Devices

Google’s simpler AdWords program, Boost, is getting its national roll-out, after a three-month test period in certain cities and states, the company is set to announce. The search giant also said it will begin displaying Boost ads for searches done on iPhone and Android devices.

Google spokesperson Jim Prosser wouldn’t say what kind of usage Boost has gotten since the start of the testing period, but allowed that, “the response has been good, otherwise we wouldn’t be rolling this out nationally.”

Boost is Google’s program aimed at smaller businesses who want a “set it and forget it” approach to advertising, as they’re accustomed to receiving via the Yellow Pages or a print ad buy in a local newspaper. Boost advertisers choose a category for their business, set a budget, create a Google Places profile and write a description of their business. Google then uses this information to automatically create the ads and manage when the ads should be displayed, leaving advertisers free from worrying about keywords and bids.

“It’s all about creating different products that make sense for different folks,” said Prosser. With Boost, he said, “local businesses who want to use search ads can do so in a fairly simple, cost-controlled fashion.”

Prosser said Google had dedicated a “small” sales team to proselytize about Boost and Tags, but wouldn’t provide details about the team or its methods of recruitment. Search Engine Land Contributing Editor Greg Sterling reported receiving a sales call from Google salespeople for the products in recent days.

Google has lately focused an increasing amount of energy on reaching local small businesses inclined to benefit from the boom in search on mobile devices. On its earnings call last week, the company said it had generated “millions” of calls from click-to-call ads. Boost ads automatically are click-to-call enabled.

Boost ads are displayed on Google, Google Maps, and now on iPhone and Android devices. Both new and currently-running Boost ads will be displayed for mobile searches.