A few months ago, Google launched a program to broker the sale of small ads within newspapers through a web based system, allowing smaller businesses to place ads in a medium they have traditionally been somewhat locked out of.
The Washington Post reports on Google’s expansion of their newspaper ad program:
“Now, two months into a test with 100 advertisers and 66 newspapers, Google executives say that its pilot program has exceeded their expectations and that they will roll out an expanded version in the coming months.”
“The volume [of ads sold] is tripling where we thought it would be,” said Tom Phillips, director of print ads at Google. “I think we’ll have real impact next year” on newspapers’ bottom lines, he said. “We open the medium to a whole new class of advertisers.”
Don Dodge is tracking Google’s takeover of the advertising world, and has this note to add:
“…it is not about the technology. It is not about search. I have been a technology guy for more than 20 years. Sorry to say, this is about an efficient advertising system that satisfies advertisers, content providers, and consumers.”