We just made that name up. But a few weeks ago at Outrank, we caught wind of a celebrity endorsement advertising program that Google is testing. If you use Google, you may start to see celebrity endorsements at the bottom of paid search advertisements that appear in search results for online queries. There is not much information about the program other than advertisers on Google will partner with celebrities whose endorsements will appear in paid ads as annotations like “Outrank endorsed this”. A small thumbnail picture of the celebrity will appear next to the annotation, like you see when someone in your Google+ circles +1’s something that then appears in your search results. Check out the example of a celebrity endorsed ad on Search Engine Land.

It is unclear if the advertisements that celebrities will endorse will solely refer to celebrity products like if “Charlie Sheen endorsed this” were to appear on an ad for Tiger Juice, (fictitious example but you get the idea) … or if celebrities will be able to endorse another party’s product, like Chelsea Handler endorsing Belvedere Vodka. If the program exists for celebrities to endorse their own company, it gives them a way to better control their brand by endorsing a specific product. If not, it’s still a way for celebrities to define themselves through other brands that they support.

If you are the type of person that looks to pop culture for what’s hot, this will be an added bonus in the world of search … a world influenced by paid advertisements, rather than an organic focus, however.

Here are a few things Outrank is curious about regarding the program:
• If ads are not limited to celebrities, what is the relationship between the advertiser and celebrity from a monetary perspective?
• What will the cost be to advertisers?
• Will this spur more clicks?
• Will advertisers see a positive effect on their bottom line?

Outrank will report back on details of the program as they become available. What are your thoughts? Please post in the Outrank blog comments below!