With the goal of simplifying Google’s standard search advertising model, Google announced that they would begin testing a new fixed pricing system, which is a model much more familiar to local businesses.

Essentially, whether you’re a hair salon, car dealership, or restaurant – for a fixed monthly fee, you will be able to place an ad with Google, much like how you would in the Yellow Pages. This is a huge opportunity for any business that isn’t familiar with Google’s current advertising model, which involves bidding for keywords (something that can be quite a complex process).

Along with this new pricing system, Google Voice will allow ads to feature a unique phone number that can be associated with your business. So when a customer see’s your ad and calls you using the unique number provided by Google, you will receive a “This call brought to you by Google” notification, allowing you to track and measure the success of your ads. With Google’s newly simplified system, any local business with limited online advertising knowledge will be able to run fully measurable targeted ads quickly and easily. And if customers are sent directly to your business phone number, your business may not even require a website to advertise with Google.

However, a nice website is still strongly recommended.