NY Times takes a look at Google
The NY Times took a long look at Google's entry into the radio and television ad marketplace yesterday. Here are some excerpts:
"If there was any doubt about the scope of Google's ambitions in the advertising world, one of its recent job postings should dispel them: It seeks a "head of national TV sales" to help build "a world-class national TV advertising sales team."
Then there is radio. Google's chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, said last year that the company would eventually have 1,000 employees dedicated to radio advertising alone.
Google may one day rock the television and radio advertising markets. But its TV plans have yet to take shape, and its other efforts to extend its dominance over online advertising into offline media like newspapers and radio are inching along. The early results are mixed, suggesting that Google's successful transition from online kingpin to credible player in traditional media is far from assured.
In particular, Google's effort to sell radio ads, the oldest and most advanced of its major offline advertising plans, has run into several hurdles, including radio stations that are wary of losing control over the sale and pricing of ads.
Many in the radio industry are determined to keep Google at arm's length, suspicious that its technology-based approach will turn their business into a commodity and take away the relationships with advertisers that stations have spent years building.
Television advertising could prove particularly fruitful for Google, because the company might be able to combine its technology with that of cable systems to show different ads to different viewers based on demographics or personal interests. The company has said it is conducting a small trial with a few partners.
But television may not be revolutionized so easily. There are signs that Google's reception in the TV world may prove to be as chilly as it has been in some corners of the radio industry.
"It has been a good experiment," said Rick Cummings, president of Emmis Broadcasting, one of the largest radio networks that is currently testing the Google system.
But even Mr. Cummings said the system's promise remained just that. "I think the jury is still out," he said.
Emmis, which has about two dozen stations, is testing Google's ads in a handful of markets, including Los Angeles and Chicago, Mr. Cummings said. Google has brought some new advertisers to those stations.
"They are getting it at cheap rates, because it is last-minute inventory," Mr. Cummings said.
Google has been upbeat about the program, saying it has signed up about 900 stations in some 200 markets. "As we have more advertisers, we'll be able to work with more publishers," said Susan Wojcicki, vice president of product management at Google. "And as we get more publishers, we'll be able to work with more advertisers. It is a process that will take time."
Some advertisers are pleased. "We've tested them with about three of our clients," said Mark Hodor, vice president of direct response at Carat Fusion, an advertising agency that is part of the Aegis Group. "It has been pretty successful for all of them."
But a recent list of participating stations, which was obtained by The New York Times, shows that Google's access to major markets is spotty.
Competitors are moving quickly to grab a share of the market. Bid4Spots, which sells remnant inventory through an automated system, says it has 2,400 stations in its network. Another Google rival, SWMX, said its network reached 40 percent of the American broadcast audience. The company recently began testing TV ads."
