Google Radio Ads Now Playing in Detroit

Earlier this month, Google seemed ready to begin using its dMarc technology, which connects advertisers directly to radio stations through an automated advertising platform, to create a new radio ad distribution channel for Google advertisers via for its Google AdWords platform.

Now, Google powered ads are being played on at least one radio station in Detroit, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in an analyst conference call last week that the company’s radio ad-business will be generally available within three months, according to CNET News.

dMarc gives media buyers the opportunity to connect with advertisers they don’t normally connect with, John Fullam, vp and market manager for Greater Media Philadelphia is quoted as saying in the article. “It’s big for radio.” dMarc allows agencies to avoid having to place ads in time slots and track them over the phone, as is common now. Rather, they use an automated process, which means that advertisers could potentially better quantify how well an ad campaign is doing and thus modify the ads quickly depending on listener response.

Fullam added that more than half of the advertisers dMarc has talked to have never been contacted by a radio rep - untapped potential for media buyers. At the same time, the system could help radio stations sell ads for airtime that would normally remain unsold or sold as remnants.

If Google radio ads are a hit, it could potentially help the ailing industry, which saw advertising revenues slump every month from January through April of this year.

On the other hand, Google’s similar experiment with extending its model to print ads has not been particularly successful. In June, for example, Google’s senior vp for product management, Jonathan Rosenberg, said Google’s venture to auction off print ads in magazines had been one of the biggest disappointments in the last six months. In the future, he said, Google would work on “integrating the ads in the medium better.”