Google: An Opponent or an Ally?

[AdIntel]

Originally Posted by This Week's Weekly Advertiser Intelligence Update

Google to Boast 25% Media Market Share

By the end of this year, Google is expected to command a position of leadership rarely seen in the media world - 25 percent market share.
That's according to Web researcher eMarketer, which released new growth estimates for the online ad space on Tuesday. According to eMarketer, Google will see its ad revenue soar to more than $4 billion by the end of the year - a number that matches the record ad spending pulled in by the entire industry during the most recent second quarter, and roughly a quarter of the $16 billion predicted for Internet advertising by eMarketer for 2006 overall.
Google's growth trajectory continues to be mind-boggling, based on eMarketer estimates. In 2005, it and Yahoo each pulled in roughly $2.4 billion in ad revenue. But this year, Google is leaving its top rival in the dust, as revenue is expected to surge by nearly 65 percent versus 17.5 percent growth predicted for Yahoo.
Media Week

These guys don’t seem to be going away. Has your organization positioned itself to benefit from the advertising services Google has to offer? If so, how? If not, why not?

Do you personally see Google and other Internet-based advertising companies as competitors or potential allies in building revenue for your company be it a newspaper, broadcast TV station, or radio station?

[Ad Chatter]

I think we had better figure out a way to make Google an ally. Like you said AdIntel, they are not going away and it is a gross understatement to say that that $4 billion online advertising number is impressive. I have also heard that they are testing models for selling newspaper advertising and their Google Video application seems to me to be a rather logical first step in partnering with TV. Of course, we always could (and most likely will) repeat the mistakes of the past by just pretending that they aren't there....

[db7]

Quote from
AAF SmartBrief
January 19, 2007
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/fXjUjmjpcrkouuCibvaohDYH

"A new partnership between a consortium of nine publishers of more than 215 U.S. daily newspapers and Yahoo! HotJobs isn't really a case of print sleeping with the enemy, writes Jon Fine in BusinessWeek. The "Nine Amigos" see the venture, which could be expanded to other areas, as a way to build their online competitive edge, while Yahoo! wants a partner to shore up its advantage with local ads over rival Google. BusinessWeek (1/18)"

Doesn't partnering with Yahoo (17.5% projected short-term growth) instead of Google (65% projected short-term growth) speak volumes about current leadership in the American newspaper industry?

[Ad Chatter]

This article is a couple of weeks old, but it continues the conversation pretty well....

Originally Posted by Insight Edge Advertiser Intelligence Service

Ad Deal Between Newspapers and Google Paying Off -- So Far
The fact that publishers are not only willing but eager to collaborate with major Internet players could be considered a sign that the Great Newspaper Apocalypse might never materialize. At least not in 2007, anyway. Now comes word that Google wants to extend its newspaper print pilot program because it exceeded the company's expectations. What those expectations were in the first place is anyone's guess -- Google wouldn't say -- but at least the gentle giant wants to keep banking the experiment.
When it rolled out the program last fall, 50 newspapers got involved. At the beginning of this year, 16 more jumped on board. One hundred advertisers have volunteered to test out the program as well.
Here's how it works: Newspapers list available inventory, rate card information, and circulation. Advertisers place bids, and it's up to the newspaper to accept them. "We are turning the whole model on its ear," says Tom Phillips, director of print ads at Google.
Most of the advertisers are new to running in newspapers, though some are former free-standing-insert buyers. The advertisers are hardly bit players: "They are medium and large businesses," says Phillips, citing Netflix, Avis, and Budget as participants. "They are not, for the most part, small."
Editor & Publisher

I wonder if this will become a prevalent model and if so, I also wonder what it means for newspapers. Any thoughts?

[db7]

The internet marketplace for buying newspaper ads is here. Will it work?

Originally posted by CNN Money July 18, 2007
http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/18/tech...ion=2007071806
Google expands newspaper ad program
Customers can now place print ads in 225 newspapers, reach half of nation's readers.
July 18 2007: 6:17 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -- Google Inc. said it is expanding its Print Ads program to allow online advertisers nationwide to place print advertisements in 225 newspapers, serving half of U.S. newspaper readers.
The program, which will let hundreds of thousands of Google AdWords customers place newspaper ads in the same way they buy Web page, radio or TV ad space, follows a 50-publication test started last November among a small group of advertisers.
/technology//technology/
The 225 newspapers are located in 32 of the 35 biggest U.S. metropolitan markets, with a combined circulation of almost 30 million subscribers. Among the newspapers in the program are The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Seattle Times and San Jose Mercury News.
Google (Charts, Fortune 500) Print Ads lets advertising agencies and advertising customers of all sizes plan and buy traditional newspaper media - from one-inch to full-page displays in both national and local newspapers via Google's existing ad sales software.
Smita Hashim, group product manager for Print Ads, said it was designed to bring online advertisers back to papers. "We are not actively marketing to newspaper loyalists," she said Tuesday, referring to print advertisers to which papers typically sell.
Separately Tuesday, Google rival Yahoo Inc (Charts, Fortune 500). said it has increased its own ad sales partnership with U.S. newspaper publishers to 17 chains covering 400 newspapers, up from 176 publications when its program began in November.
Unlike Google Print Ads, however, Yahoo's program is aimed at helping newspapers sell ads on their online sites, something Google itself already does through its own AdSense program.
On that score, Google said it had renewed an existing deal to supply Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive with online Web search results, as well as pay-per-click and contextually targeted ads to WashingtonPost.com readers.
With Google Print Ads, an ad buyer in Los Angeles might buy space in Chicago or Seattle newspapers, something only national advertisers now typically do. This allows local papers to reach a national base of online ad buyers.
"Google Print Ads has brought in new advertisers who were either too small to consider advertising in a national newspaper or who hadn't tried print advertising because their business was largely online," said Todd Haskell, the New York Times' vice president of business development for advertising.
Advertisers then place bids for space and upload ad images to the Google AdWords system and the rest is taken care by the newspapers and Google, which handles billing and payments.
Yahoo disappoints again
As part of its bid to bring accountability to both sides of the print-buying process, Google asks newspapers to provide electronic "tear sheets" - images that demonstrate exactly where and how a specific ad ran in a publication - within 24 hours of the publication of the print advertisement.
Google officials said the extension of AdWords to include newspaper ads promises to bring the measurability of online ad sales to offline print media.
"Advertisers are using newspapers in very similar ways to how they use online advertising," Hashim said. Customers are beginning to test ad campaigns across different markets and shifting spending where it is most effective, she said.

What are your impressions?

[Ad Chatter]

Originally Posted by db7

The 225 newspapers are located in 32 of the 35 biggest U.S. metropolitan markets, with a combined circulation of almost 30 million subscribers.

Mighty impressive. If it doesn't work in these papers, it could be argued that it won't work at all.

[db7]

I direct anyone interested in more information about purchasing via e-marketeplaces to the thread, "Cable TV opts Out EBay TV Test" starting with the second message in the thread.