Google to Sell Ads In Offline Media?

It seems that a few weeks ago, Google started experimenting with print ads. They bought full page advertising spots in several magazines and then split the pages into sections which they sold off to some of their publishers.

In other words, Google was acting as the middleman, and just as online with Adwords website ads, their primary function was targeting the right ads to the right audience.

Not only that, but as Gary Stein at Jupiter Research points out in this post:

“Phone numbers in the ads go through Google switches, URLs go through Google servers. Google gets to know response rate, all in one place; they can even (ready for this?) charge based on it.”

Think about that for a minute.

Imagine Google scanning magazines as they are already doing with books, and you realise there’s really no major obstacle to Google extending contextual advertising to offline print media.

Only with magazines it needn’t be scanning. Pre-publication copy could reach Google via email, or a web form (like with this).

Of course, this is just speculation. But on the other hand, Google wouldn’t be dabbling in print ads just for the fun of it.

And print isn’t the only offline media that may feel the impact of the search engines.

Yahoo is already offering video search, and Google are also working on it. An interesting post on WebProWorld suggests a possible future where in the TV and radio markets:

“Instead of buying ads and selling sponsorships, the contextual ad world in traditional media would follow the auction model….The search engines would crawl programs before broadcast and set keyword phrase bid rates.

After Google’s or Yahoo’s video search spider has crawled the show, the 30 second ad space both companies would wish to fill would price at what the market will bear, instead of an arbitrary figure that may not truly reflect the slots value. “

If all this happens, the ramifications are enormous. Not only is it likely that in time the search engines will grow to become incredibly powerful media heavyweights, but many other companies will be squeezed out as their business models become outdated and increasingly irrelevant, leaving the SE’s to call the shots.