Google is now entering into the TV ad marketplace. They are partnering with EchoStar Communications Corp to sell television commercials via their network. The TV advertising arena is worth an estimated $54 Billion a year (U.S figures).

Advertisers will be able to buy TV ad spots through and online auction system and advertisers bid how much they are willing to pay per thousand households.

Google is relying on information collected from set-top boxes by operators such as EchoStar, which it says does not permit it to identify any specific subscribers. At least initially, Google is not matching commercials with the content of TV programs or showing ads to specific users based on previous viewing habits or other personal information. The Internet company says concern for user privacy will be a factor in any future efforts to target TV advertising more specifically.

This will probably only be of interest to the big time players, so don’t expect to see a Google TV ad for everybodygoto.com.

Their radio ad product which is still in private testing, I presume, didn’t make many headlines in testing as everybody was saying it would.

How will this fare? Well for online businesses that have higher ad budgets it might work out. The small guy will just have to watch I guess. Even their Online Video ad product doesn’t seem to have many takers, I hardly see any Video ads anywhere and everyone remembers the hoopla created around that when it was in beta, and then at launch.

via (paywall)

Update: Official Press Release.

Technorati Tags: google, video, tv, advertising

About the author

Hyder has been blogging for the past two years on this blog. He started Weborithm, his web company, in 2007 and along with designing blogs and websites also releases various web related products.