To: ~digs who wrote (1817 ) 12/2/2005 6:08:03 PM From: ~digs Respond to It was a babystep that sent tremors through the media establishment. Seeking ways to expand its advertising juggernaut beyond the Internet, Google Inc. (NasdaqNM:GOOG - News) this fall purchased about a dozen pages of ad space from niche publications such as PC Magazine and Budget Living. Google then divvied up the space and sold it in small pieces, often four to seven per page, to its network of several hundred thousand advertisers -- most of whom can't afford pricey magazine ads on their own. Now Google says the trial program, dubbed Google Publication Ads, is taking off, with hundreds of publications inquiring about it. The company is expanding the trial from four publications to scores of them, likely to include both niche and general interest titles. However, a closer look at Google's foray into magazine ads suggests it could be in for a tough slog. Sure, plenty of publishers are clamoring to snare ad dollars from Google. But a BusinessWeek analysis of Google's pilot, including interviews with 10 advertisers and two publishers, indicates that advertisers haven't warmed to the program so far. Only one of 10 advertisers interviewed by BusinessWeek said their print ad performed well enough to recoup the money it cost. And eight of the 10 were unhappy enough with the results that they say they're unlikely to do further print advertising with Google. "The response was definitely less than we expected," says Ken Chang, director of operations at Apex Security Solutions, a seller of networked security cameras, which purchased an ad through Google in PC Magazine's Oct. 18 issue. biz.yahoo.com
