Google Tries Radio For Revenue

Google said today it has offered to acquire digital radio advertising provider dMarc Broadcasting for $102 million in cash.

In other terms of the deal, Google must make additional cash payments if certain product integration, net revenue and advertising inventory targets are met over the next three years. The maximum amount of potential payments is $1.136 billion over the next three years.

The move is the latest effort by the search engine giant to generate advertising revenue through various forms of media.

Newport Beach, Calif.’s, dMarc connects advertisers directly to radio stations through its advertising platform, which makes it easier for advertisers to purchase and track their campaigns.

For broadcasters, dMarc’s technology automatically schedules and places advertising, which simultaneously increases revenue and cuts the costs associated with processing ads.

Eventually, Google will integrate dMarc’s technology into the Google AdWords platform to create a new radio ad distribution channel for Google advertisers, the company said in a statement.

“We anticipate that this acquisition will bring new ad dollars and accountability to radio by combining Google’s expansive network of advertisers with dMarc’s talented team and innovative radio advertising technology,” said Tim Armstrong, vice president of advertising sales at Google.

Google expects the purchase will close in the first quarter of 2006.

In related news, Google today said it embarked on a partnership with information systems giant EMC.

EMC agreed to add the Google Desktop for Enterprise as the newest information source available to users through a single query within EMC Documentum Enterprise Content Integration (ECI) Services.

The move gives Documentum software customers another point of access to search content across all information types and repositories.

The move also marks an expansion of an alliance that goes back to 2004, when EMC bundled its Documentum ECI Services with Google.com and Google Search Appliance.

Google has made a number of buys and inked a bunch of partnerships in recent months to diversify its offerings and use its technological prowess to expand beyond the search realm and find more money-making opportunities.

The company is building up a war chest of technology, talent and services to better compete with giants such as Microsoft and Yahoo!.

Last March, the Mountain View, Calif., company bought Urchin Software for Web analytics. In May, the vendor picked up social networking service Dodgeball.com.

Two months later, Google nabbed Brazilian search company Akwan Information Technologies. And in August, it bought mobile startup Android.

Google also engaged in a partnership with Sun Microsystems, agreeing to promote the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), the Google Toolbar and the OpenOffice.org productivity suite.