If you are a GMail user you’ve probably noticed Google’s highly relevant ads running in and around your emails. For example, if someone sends you some information about a new car they are thinking about buying there’s a good chance you’re going to see car related ads when you open this email. It’s a fact of life in the Google world – you don’t have to like these ads, but you might consider using them to market your business.

Contextual ads in GMail – Click to enlarge.

Think about it, these are some of the most highly targeted ads you buy. Someone sends a note to a friend talking about starting a business and wham, there’s your business opportunity right in the email.

Gmail ads are available to advertisers through the AdWords platform. You need to have an AdWords account and set-up a campaign. You can target GMail through the “managed placements” network setting. You can do this as a GMail only campaign or as part of a campaign that also runs ads on other sites.

To add Gmail simply add http://mail.google.com to the list of managed placement sites. The video below from Google’s Austin Lau explains this function.