Concept: Google Sponsors

I've noticed that I've gone blind to Google Ads. When they launched, it was innovative, and the idea of related ad links was compelling and less intrusive than other forms of advertising.

However, they are now so omnipresent that I wonder how effective they are.

I think the next step in creating effective campaigns would be a consistent sponsorship model.

Here's how it would work:

Company XYZ signs up for Google Sponsors, creating a variety of assets carrying their brand identity. Given their budget, they choose to a certain tier of sponsorship -- for instance, websites with 1,000-1,999 daily visitors. Their maximum spend dictates how many websites they will sponsor. So if they decide on $10 CPM/day with a max budget of $100/day -- they can sponsor 10 websites.

Next, a blogger, Joe subscribes to the Google Sponsors program. He verifies his daily traffic via an invisible traffic counter which runs for a month, then he becomes eligible for a sponsor. He views a list of sponsors (which Google filters according to the best-match for his website's content) and he chooses Company XYZ.

From then on, Joe's Blog is sponsored and co-branded by Company XYZ.

I think this is a better option than rotating ads, because visitors to Joe's Blog will receive a consistent marketing campaign, and the message will be reinforced with each visit.