Google fails to export ad success to print
Google's an amazing company... I can hardly imagine the internet without it, but here I think they may have overreached a bit. Best to stick to the internet.
[QUOTE][B]Google fails to export ad success to print[/B]
Google’s efforts to export its advertising success to the newspaper industry have ended in failure with the closure of its Google Print Ads service.
The Silicon Valley company said on Tuesday it had hoped to create a new revenue stream for the embattled newspaper industry and produce more relevant advertising for consumers, but admitted: “The product has not created the impact that we – or our partners – wanted.”
Google began offering the programme with 50 newspaper partners in November 2006 and expanded the network to include more than 800 US newspapers, although some members said it never gained traction in helping them combat the loss of print advertising to online.
The internet company said it would stop offering Print Ads on February 28, but it would place ads until March 31 for those advertisers with campaigns already booked.
Print Ads allowed advertisers to select newspapers for their ads based on demographics, location and publication type, then submit an offer and create and pay for their ads online.
Google came up with Audio Ads for radio in December 2006 and TV Ads for television in April 2007.
Google said on Tuesday it had no plans to stop offering either of those services.
Google has been reviewing its staffing and projects generally, cutting 100 jobs in its recruitment team last week and abandoning services such as Google Video and Google Notebook.
But Eric Schmidt, chief executive, has revealed a soft spot for the newspaper industry, telling Fortune magazine this month it would be a “real tragedy” if the industry failed.
In a blog note, Spencer Spinnell, director of Google Print Ads, said Google would continue to work with publishers “to develop new ways for them to earn money, distribute and aggregate content and attract new readers online”.
One of Print Ads’ newspaper partners told the Financial Times the project “never got off the ground” and said there was minimal if any impact at all to its business.
Another newspaper executive had not realised the company was a part of the programme.
A New York Times spokeswoman said the Google programme was a “very, very small part of our business”.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a724733e-e748-11dd-aef2-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1[/url]
