Google has unveiled a new ad format called Dynamic Search ads whose functionality suggests the search engine giant may be moving along the same path of AOL's Project Devil — that is, a greater emphasis on e-commerce. Dynamic Search is aimed at larger retailers that have frequently changing inventory. The technology maintains a fresh index of that inventory using Google's organic web crawling technology. When a relevant search occurs, the tech dynamically generates an ad with a headline based on the query, and the text based on the advertiser’s most relevant landing page.

Early adopters report good results, Google says. ApartmentHomeLiving.com used the technology and experienced an increase in conversions by almost 50% with an average cost-per-conversion that's 73% less than its traditional search ads.

To make sure the format doesn’t step on on advertisers’ existing campaigns, the system knows not to put forth will the dynamically generated ad if there is already advertiser-created copy targeting the specific search term. “We want to make sure it doesn’t affect keyword campaigns,” Baris Gultekin, director of AdWords product management, told Search Engine Land. “This is purely incremental.”