Google Finally Gets On TV, But Will It Look Good In Front Of The Camera?

from the we're-not-online-anymore dept

In its continuing quest to diversify its revenue streams, Google has announced that satellite TV operator Echostar, which operates the Dish Network, has hired the company to set up an automated system for buying and monitoring ad purchases. Google has been interested in TV advertising for quite some time, although its early forays into offline media have been less than stellar. As with its earlier efforts in print, it's not clear what Google is really bringing to the table. It's going to set up an auction system to sell the ads, which might result in more accurate pricing, but that doesn't sound particularly revolutionary. It also claims it will allow advertisers to track the effectiveness of their ads -- something which has been described as the holy grail of advertising -- but this seems a bit misleading. While Google may be able to give good statistics on how many people have viewed an ad, unlike with its online ad sales, it won't be in a position to give advertisers a good idea of how well their ads are turning into sales, the true measure of an ad's performance. In fact, Google is only able to measure ad views through a system set up by Echostar, which further diminishes Google's contribution to the whole thing. While Google has been working at this for a long time, it doesn't sound as though it has developed anything that couldn't easily be replicated by a competitor. And since the major television operators are going to be hesitant to hand over any more power to the company, it's going to be tough for it to break into this market in a big way.
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  • identicon
    just me, 3 Apr 2007 @ 12:13pm

    *Yawns* depends on how good the commercials are. I don't think many will pay much attention. Maybe Google will surprise us all. I don't see too many jumping with excitement to see a commercial, unless it's the Super bowl.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Confused..., 3 Apr 2007 @ 12:20pm

    First?

    Wait... did my (#2) comment get deleted (the question about why being first is soo cool)?? Even if you havent read this thread yet, that seems to be the case because why would the first poster have a joke comment about being fourth otherwise?? Am I being censored???

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike (profile), 3 Apr 2007 @ 12:28pm

      Re: First?

      Wait... did my (#2) comment get deleted (the question about why being first is soo cool)?? Even if you havent read this thread yet, that seems to be the case because why would the first poster have a joke comment about being fourth otherwise?? Am I being censored???

      After many complaints from readers about lame "first post" comments, we remove those comments, and the resulting threads that come from them.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Jezsik, 3 Apr 2007 @ 12:50pm

        Re: Re: First?

        Oh, thank you for that. No more idiotic posting ... um, then again ...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Confused, 3 Apr 2007 @ 12:39pm

    No longer confused

    Oh, well done. My apologies. You can now delete all of my mindless ramblings.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Blaise, 3 Apr 2007 @ 1:07pm

    First Attempt

    I don't think Google will have anything super special to offer right off the bat, but this will be a chance for them to get their hands dirty and try some things out.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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