Ads Coming to Google Image Search

Google Image Search is a treasure trove of memes, nostalgia, and wackiness, but Google sees it as an untapped opportunity to help you do some online shopping.

Google informed its ad partners on Monday that shopping ads are coming to Image Search. So when a person looks up images of, say, a sofa, Google will display relevant advertisements from its partners.

“Whether they’re looking for a new sofa or the perfect pair of earrings, people who search and shop on their smartphones at least once a week say that product images are the shopping feature they turn to most,” Google wrote in a blog post(Opens in a new window). “And it turns out, the top questions Google Images users ask us are ‘What’s the price of this?’ and ‘Where can I buy it?'”

“That’s why we are introducing Shopping ads on image search,” the company continued. “Now your ads for related products will appear as shoppers browse Google Images, so they can easily click through to buy from you.”

Like traditional search, the ads will be displayed above the images in the company’s search results.

In addition to image ads, Google says retailers can now add a store pickup link to their product pages. Google says the feature has boosted clicks, including early tester Kohls, which saw a clicks boost of between 40 percent and 50 percent.

Google’s announcement comes ahead of the company’s highly anticipated I/O developer conference. The show kicks off on Wednesday; find out what to expect.