Google’s expansion
In recent days Google has made two major deals, shaking up the advertising industry. According to Reuters the internet company has entered the radio business by closing a “multi-year advertising sales agreement< with Clear Channel Radio, the largest US broadcaster. Yet Google is equally expanding its online presence: on Friday it came to a definitive agreement to acquire the web advertisement supplier DoubleClick for ca. €2.3 billion, trumping competitors such as Microsoft and Yahoo (CNN).
Google’s online advertisement revenue has risen exponentially from ca. €930 million in 2004 to €4.6 billion in 2007 (eMarketer). After years of success, what is Google up to investing in both traditional and online media?
Implications for marketing
The deal with Clear Channel appears to suit both parties, which only shows too well that the media industry is continuously exploring new possibilities. The American media company has “agreed for Google to sell a guaranteed portion of the 30-second spots available on its 675 radio stations in top U.S. markets, in a bid to expand the universe of local radio advertisers to Google’s online buyers” (Reuters)
How does Google benefit from this? The company bases its business on one principle: targeted advertising. It has done so with its Google AdWords, which aims at attracting only relevant target audiences. And after years of success online, the company is transferring the same reasoning to traditional media: “Through Clear Channel, Google Audio Ads promises to offer advertisers national distribution across all top 100 U.S. radio markets, enabling them to reach specific audiences” (Reuters)
The online deal with DoubleClick has not yet been finalised but if the transaction is closed, Google will gain even more access to online advertisements such as online banner ads and richer graphic (Reuters). In fact, DoubleClick has specialised in advertisement management, from uploading advertisements to tracking the data.
Future of marketing
What do these recent developments say about the future of marketing? The success of Google has only illustrated too well that advertisers are interested in reaching out to their target audience in the most cost-efficient way. With the expansion of Google online as well as towards traditional media, package deals of targeted advertising might be the next step. In other words, a client might profit from a whole range of simultaneous targeted advertisements: from Google AdWords, and bannering to radio ads.
