Yelp CEO takes Google to task over mobile app ad issue

Earlier this week Google announced the results of a study they conducted on ads that appear on your screen while using one app trying to get you to buy some other app, ads known as “interstitials.” Most users see them as annoying, a finding confirmed by the Google study. However, Google also found they were highly ineffective and has decided to retire them while asking others to follow suit. This announcement has brought a rebuke from Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman who says Google is being hypocritical and may be trying to flex some monopolistic tendencies.

According to Stoppelman, Google continues to run its own app ads while at the same time shutting down others. This is a double standard that Stoppelman sees as being used to replicate its success offering web search to users to the mobile app market. The Yelp CEO has asked via his Twitter account, “is this about protecting consumers or protecting their search monopoly?”

One should keep in mind that Yelp makes money from mobile app ads, so the company does have a vested interest in seeing them continue to be used. Yelp has also been a vocal critic of Google in the EU and the ongoing antitrust case surrounding Google’s shopping service. The company has no love for Google after the tech giant acquired Yelp competitor Zagat back in 2011.

The study recently completed by Google found that only 9% of users clicked through to check out apps based on the full screen splash ads that pop up. Meanwhile, when ads were presented as small banners on screen, Google found response rates improved by 17%.

source: Jeremy Stoppelman (Twitter)
via: Re/code

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