Sponsored secrets lie within

Google has introduced a new aspect to its unpopular Print Ads program.

Advertisers may now insert 2D bar codes in the print ads they buy. When photographed on web-ready camera phones, the bar codes bring users to a dedicated mobile website.

Users must add special software to their devices to unlock the ad fruit hidden in bar codes. Nokia offers such software, as does Kaywa. Semapedia provides a similar service, whereby users can read informational articles from bar codes, says CMSWire.

The offering is a tentative step toward making print ads more accountable, since people accessing the bar codes can be tracked.