] HipMojo.com » Newspapers’ Google Deal Stresses Industry Malaise

Newspapers’ Google Deal Stresses Industry Malaise

The fact that newspapers are somehow counting for Google to be the remedy to all/most of their ills shows once again how risk averse and unimaginative the industry has become:

According to the NY Times:

In a move into the old-fashioned business of ink on paper, Google is going to start selling advertisements that will appear in the print editions of 50 major newspapers.

Google’s plan will give the publishing business a high-tech twist: the company will expand its computer system, which already auctions off advertisements on millions of Web sites, to take bids for newspaper ads as well. Hoping to reach out to a new crop of customers, such as small businesses and online retailers, many of the largest newspaper companies, including Gannett, the Tribune Company, The New York Times Company, the Washington Post Company and Hearst, have agreed to try the system in a three-month test set to start later this month.

For Google, the test is an important step to the company’s audacious long-term goal: to build a single computer system through which advertisers can promote their products in any medium. For the newspaper industry, reeling from the loss of both readers and advertisers, this new system offers a curious bargain: the publishers can get much-needed revenue but in doing so they may well make Google — which is already the biggest seller of online advertising — even stronger.

First off, didn’t Google already do this and bomb?  I recall reading an article in Business Week where advertisers were not impressed with its results.   

This is an industry that right now has nothing to lose (ie. it’s losing as is, so it can take risks), we’ve seen how much leverage they can exert when they launch something (ie. click here to see how impressive was Careerbuilder’s sudden growth).

Will Google   help the newspapers?  Maybe.  But it won’t solve much and if successful, will cause more problems that it will solve (as in iTunes “helping” the record labels but then holding them hostage).

The truth is that newspapers are one or two deals / or investments away from turning their might into something valuable online and with their traditional businesses in general, but they have once again chosen the “girlie” approach by shifting the risk and opportunity to Google.

Tags: |
Posted By: Ashkan Karbasfrooshan | Nov 6th

2 Responses to “Newspapers’ Google Deal Stresses Industry Malaise”

  1. The Blogging Times » Google Expands Their Interests And Ours Wane Says:
    November 6th, 2006 at 3:41 pm

    […] From blogosphere: Good Morning Silicon Valley, Techdirt, The Kelsey Group Blog, PaidContent, CNNMoney.com, Digital Micro-Markets, Mathew Ingram, ReveNews, Mark Evans, Business 2.0 Beta Blogs, Digital Inspiration, HipMojo.com, Google Watch, Search Engine Watch Blog, AttentionMax, Glass House, Google Operating System, ben barren, Romenesko advertising, Google, John Battelle, print, Searchblog, The Boston Globe, The Chicago tribune, The New York Times […]

  2. Deep Jive Interests » Google to Use “Faerie Magicks” in Tracking New Print Ads Says:
    November 6th, 2006 at 6:34 pm

    […] Google to Use “Faerie Magicks” in Tracking New Print Ads November 6th, 2006 at 6:07 pm by Tony Google is once again in the news getting the blogosphere all hot and bothered because of its new Print Ads service which will debut fairly soon in an “alpha” run, to finish in January.  Several reputable newspapers have signed on, such as the New York Times and Washington Post.  The details of the issue have been discussed elsewhere, so I won’t repeat them.  But what’s quite fascinating is the motivation for newspapers to try this grand experiment.  Businessweek writes: One ad executive involved in the test says the opportunity to tap Google’s vaunted advertising measurement capabilities is a major selling point. “The platform has the potential to allow us to better measure and better understand how our print advertising drives Internet traffic,” said Bruce Telkamp, senior vice-president for business development at online health insurance marketer eHealth. […]

Subscribe:


Leave a Reply

*
To prove that you're not a bot, enter this code
Anti-Spam Image

Subscribe:


« « previous post | next post » »
Admin

Shortcut:
HipMojo.com

Subscribe:

Search Site:

Categories:

Archives:

Blogroll: