Google Audio Radio Ads are Here!

Posted In Paid Marketing

For years prescient industry pundits and sages have been forecasting this happy day of convergence. Google audio radio ads are here and guess what-SEM firms are the new radio media buyers. Yippy Skippy! Tonight I stumbled upon Google Audio’s mass launch of Google Audio Ads in the dashboard of a Minneapolis client’s account.

In April Google announced a multi-year deal delegating them to cut up and sell a guaranteed inventory of 30-second radio spots on more than 675 Clear Channel AM/FM radio stations. Now it’s reality.

SEM Firms are the New Radio Buyers.
The deal makes it possible for Google search marketing platform Internet media buyers (like AIMCLEAR) to reach audiences at designated times in geo-targeted areas. Search marketers are now directly in the brick broadcast buying mix with Google radio Ads even here in Duluth, Minnesota.

Since the interface is within the Google online ad platform, creating and deploying radio advertising campaigns is now in the sphere of search engine marketing firms who have been learning to leverage online media buys in this environment for years. For goodness sakes, after the radio ads run Google even offers reports online to provide marketers with real-time recordings of ads as they were originally played.

Why Google Radio?
Radio and Internet together reach 83% of people ages 18-54*. Each day radio and Internet in aggregate reach approximately 83% of folks between the ages of 18-54 which is comparable to the daily reach of television. Also greater than 90% of the population still listens to radio and 21% of people are listening while online. 57% of people listening to the radio while on the Internet actually look up items in their browser after hearing product commercials. *Source: The Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab (RAEL), 2007.

Ad Creation Marketplace
If you need help creating an audio ad you can provide Google the specifics of what you seek and they’ll help you find a production vendor. Services in the search matrix include script writing, voiceover production , music, singing, and sound effects. You simply provide details regarding your radio advertising objectives and Google uses the information to search their “Ad Creation Marketplace” for “specialists to match your needs.

Once Google connects you with possible specialists, to provide the creative and production services you seek, you can request a proposal. Google takes pains to say that advertisers’ are not under any obligation to purchase any particular vendors services. Google suggests that an average turnaround time might be about 3 days.

Buzz Topic
This topic will likely be a buzz subject for reviews from various factions in the convergence media universe. So far here are the authority blogs which, as of tonight, have weighed in with early commentary and analysis on the matter:
~~Google Audio Ads See Broad Release~~
Search Engine Watch Blog by Danny Sullivan