As you may know, Gmail actually scans your email and serves up ads based on it. Well, yesterday, I got an ad for Michael Bloomberg's website.

Now, interesting question: why in the world would the mayor of New York want people to take a look at his personal website?

He isn't running any ads, so it's not about money.

I don't live in New York, so he's not trying to reach his hometown crowd.

However, if he were running for President, what would his biggest challenge be besides getting on the ballot in all 50 states?

That's easy: letting people know who the heck he is because he has very low name recognition.

So, how could he quietly reach out and introduce himself to the public? Well, one of the ways he could do that would be by running Gmail ads and when you have an almost infinite supply of money, like Bloomberg, you can buy a hell of a lot of ads.

PS: I don't think the ad means Bloomberg will definitely run, but it's a strong indication that he's thinking about it.