Google is currently running a trial of test ads on cable as part of
its larger plan to move into television advertising.
Google didn’t offer many details about the trial but in an e-mail sent to internetnews.com, a company spokesperson
said the company is running a small, early-phase trial
working closely with a small number of partners and advertisers.
Google’s plan is to “add value to TV
advertising by making this important medium more relevant for users,
measurable and more accountable for existing and new advertisers,” the spokesperson continued.
Google’s cable ad test is similar to its beta test of Google Audio Ads in December. The company invited a small group of AdWords advertisers to place 30-second radio ads on hundreds of radio stations across the U.S.
The test allowed advertisers to target their ads by location,
station type, day of week and time of day. Reports showed when and where the ads ran after they hit the airwaves.
These recent moves to radio and TV are not Google’s first departure from
online search marketing.
Its November print ads test allowed advertisers to bid through an online marketplace for space in more than 50 major newspapers across the U.S.
At the time, Google said participating newspapers included the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Denver Post.
And in 2005, Google brought its AdSense contextual advertising service to
RSS content in a beta test. The test followed Google’s AdSense model
for Web sites and blogs.
