Google network for advertisers
Created on Thursday, 14 April 2011 20:30 Published Date Hits: 384
Google has began broadcasting ads across Clear Channel's Radio network allowing it to reach a massive 110 million-strong audience of listeners.
Google has dabbled with radio in the past, striking deals which gave it access to unsold air time. Where this is different is in the type of deal. In a partnership which is set to run for several years Google gets access to five per cent of Clear Channel's commercial time allowing it to run 30-second spot ads on all of the network's 675 radio stations during all programs and with no restrictions on time slots.
Google has began broadcasting ads across Clear Channel's Radio network allowing it to reach a massive 110 million-strong audience of listeners.
Google has dabbled with radio in the past, striking deals which gave it access to unsold air time. Where this is different is in the type of deal. In a partnership which is set to run for several years Google gets access to five per cent of Clear Channel's commercial time allowing it to run 30-second spot ads on all of the network's 675 radio stations during all programs and with no restrictions on time slots.
This is powerful stuff. It gives Google cart-blanche to air ads in any program, at any time, giving them, for the fist time, radio ad exposure to a prime time audience. Clear Channel is America's number one radio network and if this deal works the way Google wants it will start bringing a degree of synchronization and cost-cutting to online and offline advertising that has not been possible until now.
So, how does this affect you? The hard-pushed, online store manager and webmaster who's already struggling to reach an online audience through website design and SEO tactics?
The answer here is not 100% clear, though the strategy, obviously, is. Google is going to leverage its online dominance in text ads and contextual display ads to bring new advertisers to radio. This means that, for US online stores at least as well as those targeting a US-based audience Google will have suddenly added an additional and very powerful means of reaching their audience.
If this is successful Google will look to repeat the experiment in their next largest market, the UK. Stay tuned for update
