Google finally takes advantage of 2007 Adscape purchase

Google is the undisputed king of internet advertising and it is always looking for the next big advertising market to jump into. Expanding its advertising market is one of the main reasons Google introduced the open source Android OS for mobile phones.

In March of 2007, Google plunked down $23 million to purchase video game advertising firm Adscape. Everyone knew when the purchase was made that Google would be entering into the video game advertising market sooner or later.

In May of 2007, Google filed a patent for video game advertising technology that would monitor the player's in-game behavior and attempt to serve ads based on their needs. Privacy advocates took issue with the patent because Google said that monitoring would include in-game chats. Presumably, on Google's part, the in-game chat monitoring would be used for serving up ads for something like Taco Bell if a player said they were hungry.

Read more: dailytech.com 

Labels: Adscape, advertisements, advertising, games, video

A Washington think tank devoted to antitrust issues has issued a 19-page analysis of the Google-Yahoo deal that warns that the transaction has the potential to become "a black hole that swallows up Yahoo."

"We believe that the transaction could be blocked on antitrust grounds," according to the report by the American Antitrust Institute, which conducted its analysis based on briefings with the companies and publicly available data.

Under the deal announced on June 12, Google would provide some of the ads for Yahoo's search engine, yielding as much as $800 million annually for Yahoo. Yahoo says it will pour that money into improving its own search engine -- in other words, partnering with Google to get more competitive with Google.

Read more: washingtonpost.com 

Labels: ads, advertisements, advertising, Yahoo

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) is not happy with the fact that Google will start serving ads to Yahoo, and they’ve asked the US Department of Justice, the European Commission and the Competition Bureau of Canada to block the deal. This is pretty much along the lines with what Microsoft’s been saying about this deal, and they’re likely to support WAN on this one, so Google and Yahoo now have some very strong opposition working against them.

WAN’s president Gavin O’Reilly is surprisingly factual in his comments about the complaint: “The proposed advertising deal between Google and Yahoo would seriously weaken that competition, resulting in less revenues and higher prices for our members. WAN is also concerned that this deal would give Google unwarranted market power over important segments of online advertising. Advertisers will increasingly migrate to Google since they will see diminishing price advantages to advertising through Yahoo.

Read more: mashable.com 

Labels: ads, advertisements, advertisers, advertising, Yahoo

Google has spent $140 million to acquire Russian ad company ZAO Begun as it attempts to penetrate the Russian market.

Google wants to make headway in the Russian market, where it lags behind the portal Yandex. To help it increase penetration, CNET reports that the search giant is acquiring ad company ZAO Begun for $140 million in a slightly unusual deal.

Just over 50% of Begun is currently owned by Russian site Rambler Media. It’s agreed to buy the remained from another company, Bannatyne, and then sell it for cash to Google.

Begun has 40,000 advertisers and 143,000 Russian-language sites in its network, according to Rambler.

Full article: digitaltrends.com 

Labels: ads, advertisements, advertising, Russia

Google, Looking to Monetize Video Site, Is Letting Content Producers Sell Advertising on Their Branded Channels

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Google has struggled to find the best way to monetize YouTube. The latest idea: Let content creators sell ads.

Professional content producers -- those who come equipped with their own ad-sales teams -- are now able to sell advertising on their YouTube channels. That includes the click-to-expand overlays that run across the bottoms of YouTube videos and display units on the page that hosts the video player. The revenue is split between the content creator and YouTube, just as it would be if YouTube sold the ads.

Full story: adage.com 

Labels: ads, Adsense, advertisements, advertisers, advertising, video, youtube

Interesting article about Adwords (with pics):

Text ads can be smart, funny, and sometimes unintentionally hilarious when they show up in the wrong context.

The idea here is CREATIVITY like in any other ad format that differentiate you from others in the otherwise cluttered environment.

Somebody asked what you can do with words other than writing a small copy in Google adword program and making it most relevant to the keyword punched in.

Result of this thought: All the ads look just the same.


Read more: likeiknowit.wordpress.com 

Labels: ads, Adsense, advertisements, advertising, ADWords

The Google content network now accepts display ads served from qualified third-party vendors. Third-party ad serving has been a longstanding request from top brand AdWords advertisers who use third parties to create and manage their online campaigns. Initially, we will be only accepting third-party ads in English, but we hope to expand to other languages soon.

Making the Google content network more accessible to large brand advertisers also benefits AdSense publishers and end users. Third-party ad serving will introduce a greater variety of advertising into the Google content network, increase the inventory of quality display ads competing to show on AdSense publisher sites, and offer more engaging ads for end users. In the long run, we believe the increased inventory and ad competition will result in increased revenue for many AdSense publishers.

Read more: adsense.blogspot.com 

Labels: ads, Adsense, advertisements, advertisers, advertising, Publishers

When you think Google, you probably think search engine, and, with Google trying to move into the wireless industry, it may be a bit confusing as to what Google’s doing with itself. Let’s not forget one thing: the core of Google’s business is advertising. With that in mind, it would make sense why Google would want to redefine TV.

The company is currently researching methods to get Google in, on, or under your TV, and it has little or nothing to do with the Google TV ads being tested under EchoStar.

Yet Google’s not denying anything either. Vincent Dureua, Google’s TV technology boss, couldn’t state the company’s goal for the medium any more clearly: "We are confident we are going to revive the television advertising industry by bringing new advertising to it."

Read more: blorge.com 

Labels: advertisements, advertising, Android, TV

Google has announced a number of changes to its key Adwords product that will provide a more rounded product offering to Adwords’ advertisers.

Google has tweaked its site targeting feature to give advertisers the ability to run their campaigns not only on the front page of sites, but also on specific pages on each site. The feature now has a new (and appropriate) name: placement targeting.

Read more: techcrunch.com 

Labels: Adsense, advertisements, advertisers, advertising, ADWords

Google today launched Gadget Ads, a new interactive rich media ad format which will allow advertisers to measure users' responses to the ads, as well as updating ad content in real time.

The new ads designed for use across Google's network of sites, and aims to offer a way for internet users to interact with ad content in a way that is not possible with standard web ads.

The measurability of the Gadget ads will appeal to advertisers, and goes beyond merely measuring how many people clicked on an ad.

Instead, advertisers will be able to see how many users interacted with the ads in a number of ways. For instance, in the case of video ads, advertisers can see how much of a video has been watched, whether menu controls were used, and so on.

Full article: e-consultancy.com 

Labels: ads, Adsense, advertisements, advertising, widget

Publishers of Web sites designed for viewing on mobile phones now have the option to make some money through Google (GOOG)'s AdSense program.

Google on Tuesday announced the availability of AdSense for Mobile, its service for placing contextual ads with mobile Web content.

"We've just launched AdSense for Mobile, which can help you expand your online content to new platforms," said Alex Kenin, AdSense product marketing manager, in a blog post. "If you have a Web site optimized for mobile browsers, or are interested in creating one, you can start monetizing your mobile site by accessing a growing number of our mobile advertisers."

Full article: informationweek.com 

Labels: ads, Adsense, advertisements, mobile, phone

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 17 — In another step to extend its dominance of online advertising, Google said Monday that it would begin selling ads on Web pages that are viewed on cellphones.

The company said that its new product, AdSense for Mobile, would establish a cellphone advertising network in which Google would match ads with the content of mobile Web pages, much as it does online.

Other Internet giants, including Yahoo and AOLTime Warner, as well as some start-ups, have also created advertising networks tailored for mobile phones.

Full article: nytimes.com 

Labels: ads, Adsense, advertisements, mobile, phone

Yahoo has moved to further strengthen its service to advertisers by buying web marketing business BlueLithium for $300m (£149.4m).

Set up in 2004, BlueLithium provides technology enabling websites to better match adverts with users' interests.

The purchase is the latest in a series of deals by Yahoo as it seeks to regain ground on market leader Google in the web search sector.

Full article: BBC News 

Labels: advertisements, advertisers, advertising, BlueLithium, Yahoo

8/28/2007 10:02:38 AM Tuesday morning, Internet search solutions provider Google Inc. (GOOG) revealed a multi-year advertising deal with Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) news website CNN.com, which would enlist Google's AdSense advertising program to deliver site targeted advertising to CNN.com. The company noted that the collaboration places contextually relevant advertisements alongside CNN.com content, enabling advertisers to target CNN.com specifically and connect with high quality content and traffic. Under the terms of the deal, Google will serve as the exclusive provider of auction-based text advertisements throughout CNN.com.

Full article: rttnews.com 

Labels: Adsense, advertisements, advertisers, advertising, CNN

GOOGLE yesterday began the move to recoup its £875 million investment in YouTube by introducing video advertising on to the phenomenally popular sharing website.

Until now the search engine giant has been cautious in exploiting the commercial value of the site it bought in October 2006.

But from yesterday, YouTube viewers began seeing short "overlay" adverts across the bottom of video clips.

Read more: scotsman.com 

Labels: ads, advertisements, youtube

Social News site Digg has dumped Google in favor of Microsoft to serve up the contextual ads on the site. Financial details of the agreement have not disclosed, but the deal is a three-year contract.

Kevin Rose announced the change on his blog saying that the new deal is “similar to the one Facebook signed with Microsoft last year.”

Read more: wired.com 

Labels: ads, advertisements, contextual, Digg, microsoft

A U.S. House subcommittee plans an additional inquiry into the proposed $3.1 billion merger between Google and DoubleClick. The deal is already under review at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

In a letter this week to FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) said there is "widespread concern" about the deal.

"Concerns have focused not only on the implications for competition -- in online advertising and other possibly affected markets -- but also on the potentially enormous impact on consumer privacy," Rush wrote.

Full article: internetnews.com 

Labels: advertisements, advertisers, advertising, DoubleClick

Less than a week after Terry Semel stepped down as chief executive of Yahoo, Wenda Harris-Millard, chief sales officer in the U.S., has left the company.

In a statement on Sunday, Yahoo Inc. said that its veteran domestic sales officer has resigned, forcing the company to merge the two main parts of its US advertising business under one sales executive, David Karnstedt.

Karnstedt, currently senior vice president of Yahoo's Search sales business, would lead the newly merged sales teams as head of North American sales.

Read more: themoneytimes.com 

Labels: advertisements, business, sales, Yahoo

But AdWords ain't all that, tat house snipes

After their bust up over a spolier party earlier this month, eBay and Google are back in bed together, albeit with less cash changing hands.

eBay got huffy when the search strumpet, which is going after PayPal's online payments dominance with its cheaper Checkout system, tried to pimp itself at a party on the fringes of a partner event in Boston. eBay summarily withdrew its advertising, which had made it Google's best punter.

In a rare public defeat, Google flinched, and canned the party.

Read more: theregister.co.uk 

Labels: advertisements, advertisers, ADWords, eBay

According to TechCrunch, Google has just acquired Feedburner, a web feed management company for $100 million. This was previously a rumor but now has been confirmed by Michael Arrington, who says that the deal mostly involves upfront cash payment by Google.

Interesting news for publishers currently running Feedburner’s advertising program because it’s likely that Google might integrate its Adsense contextual ad network with Feedburner.

Read more: doshdosh.com 

Labels: Adsense, advertisements, Feedburner, rss