Google Enters Into Radio Advertising Market

Search engine giant Google, has agreed to pay $1.2 billion for American company, dMarc Broadcasting, marking the company’s first entrance into the radio broadcasting field.

dMarc Broadcasting provides automated advertising delivery platforms, allowing users customers to schedule and implement radio advertising airtime. The purchase of the business will give Google the ability to offer AdWords users the options of radio advertising.

Commenting on the plans, Tim Armstrong, vice president of advertising sales for Google said that the company is “committed to exploring new ways to extend targeted, measurable advertising to other forms of media.”

Google is paying the $1.2 billion upfront for dMarc Broadcasting, however, it may have to pay an additional $1.14 billion over three years.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Google said that it planned to plug its AdWords network into the dMarc radio advertising network. This will give radio stations linking with AdWords access to a much wider group of advertisers and allow them to place their ads directly on digital radio.

This latest move has brought into question the search engine giants’ intentions towards moving into traditional media, with Google recently starting to experiment by placing ads on behalf of its AdWords customers in print publications.

At the end of last year, Google announced that it had begun testing a new product, giving consumers a free and immediate way to speak to advertisers on the Google search results page (see Google Tests Click-To-Call Service).

The new initiative will allow users to click on the phone icon in the results page and then enter in their phone number. Once the “Connect for Free” icon is activated, Google will call the provided number. When it is picked, up the caller will automatically be connected to the chosen advertiser.

Google: 020 7031 3000 www.google.co.uk/