Google’s new Real-Time Ads sound a lot like Twitter

Aiming to sell more ads during live events, Google officially unveiled a new ad product today called Real-Time Ads.

The product, Google says, enables brands to push out ads in real time to YouTube, as well as to “hundreds of thousands of apps, and the 2 million plus sites in the Google Display Network.” Still in beta, the product’s first major test will be the upcoming Super Bowl — and site-builder Wix has committed to using it during the event, Google said.

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Google previously tested Real-Time Ads in “a limited beta” with EA Games and American Express earlier this year.

At a press event in New York this morning, Google described the its goals for the initiative in a way reminiscent of Twitter’s own pitch to brands last year. Let’s compare [emphasis ours].

Google:

To help brands be a part of live events conversations in a way that’s timely and relevant, today we’re opening our Real-Time Ads beta to more brands, and we plan to roll it out more broadly later this year. With Real-Time Ads, brands will be able to instantly run an ad across YouTube, hundreds of thousands of apps, and over two million sites in our Google Display Network with a message that ties directly to the big moment consumers just experienced.

Twitter:

Whether it’s a presidential election, Coachella, Mother’s Day or the Super Bowl, if it’s happening in the world, it’s happening on Twitter. Starting today, advertisers will be able to reach audiences interested in these events with a new feature called event targeting.

With event targeting, you can activate around live moments, quickly and easily. We’ll help you discover and plan for these moments, learn more about the participating audiences through valuable insights, and with one click, create a campaign that delivers the right message to just the right users as the event unfolds.

And like Twitter, Google shared during the event that, while its product works in real time, “right now, the content is typically pre-planned.” Brands can only move so fast.

 

Updated 8:25 a.m. PT with additional details and to correct that while Comcast is using the real-time ads, it isn’t using them for the Super Bowl.