For years, Google has tried to bring its online ad auction prowess to TV advertising, and Google TV is getting closer to being ready for primetime.
NBC started selling ad inventory on some of its cable networks through Google TV in September 2008. The two companies want to develop better TV ad targeting. As a deal sweetener, NBC will also get access to Google AdWords online advertisers, and will try to turn them into TV advertisers as well.
How else is Google trying to break into TV? The company made a deal with Bloomberg to sell inventory on Bloomberg Financial.
Google is also letting companies run video ads on YouTube search results. That’s huge: Google Video and YouTube accounted for 44.1% of all online videos viewed in the US in July 2008, according to comScore Video Metrix. No one else was close.
Media agencies Zenith and Carat are experimenting with Google TV and their clients. “It’s helping us supplement what we currently do,” said Andy Donchin, Carat’s director of media investments. “I think Google provides us the ability to address media fragmentation in an efficient way.”
So far, so good. But Google TV’s limited amount of ad inventory, coupled with the relatively few planners using it, have stalled progress. Google TV inventory is only available on EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network, which reaches nearly 30 million people in 14 million homes.
One account director who uses the system on behalf of clients but declined to be identified said Google TV is good for any marketer who wants to reach viewers on smaller networks. The planning executive dubbed Google TV’s current inventory “tier II” and said that while “the pricing model has been beneficial” and “the CPMs are very attractive,” it’s little more than an “add-on tactic.” Other executives see Google TV as limited to media buying and think it has greater promise as a tool for streamlining agency operations.
Ironically, Google TV may get a boost from the slash-and-burn economic climate as spending on TV advertising is expected to be cut. eMarketer estimates that TV ad spending in the US will drop to $67.2 billion in 2009, down from $69.8 billion in 2008.
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