• ClickZ, Thursday, October 16, 2008 11:15 AM

Google has unveiled a new tool to help advertisers who don't want to pay for the services of a designer create their own display ads. The "Display Ad Builder" allows Ad Sense members to create simple graphical ads and distribute them across Google's network.

"If you've wanted to expand beyond your text ad campaigns, or if you've been looking for an easier way to build display ads, this tool can help," wrote Trevor Claiborne of the Inside AdWords team earlier this week in a blog post about the feature. The tool allows marketers to build creative units for all placements available on the Google network, including video and game ads.

There is nothing new about Google allowing graphical ads on its network, of course, but previously marketers had to upload all their own creative. (Could this be a response to MyAds, MySpace's new program that allows marketers to create display ads that run on the social network?) The ads are managed much the same way as Google's text ads, with performance-based pricing and contextual or Web site targeting options.

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