While the newspapers are slowly dying and are trying to find good solutions to survive in the digital age, Google gives them some help.
"Last fall, newspaper executives and analysts were caught by surprise by the severity of a slump that took hold last summer. Since the beginning of this year, the rate of decline in advertising revenue has accelerated. Total print and online ad revenue was down 4.8% to $10.6 billion in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the Newspaper Association of America, compared with its full-year decline in 2006 of 0.3%," says the Wall Street Journal.
Last year, Google started to test a program for delivering ads to 50 important US papers using the same AdWords front-end as for online ads. Yesterday Google announced that the program has been extended to 225 newspapers and is open to all the US advertisers. "Google Print Ads enables agencies and advertisers of all sizes to easily plan and buy traditional newspaper media in both national and local newspapers within a single, web-enabled interface. The platform enables marketers to reach new audiences in ways that are relevant for newspaper readers and cost-efficient for advertisers and publishers. And newspaper publishers can increase their bottom line by adding new customers from Google's network of advertisers, many of whom are new to newspaper advertising."
Google Print Ads works in a very traditional fashion, without automatic targeting: "First, you select the newspapers you'd like to advertise in. Next, you can select which sections, days of the week, and ad sizes are the most appropriate for your target customer. Then, you simply name the price you're willing to pay for that insertion, choosing your own offer price instead of entering an AdWords-like auction. The publisher will consider each bid separately, based on a variety of factors including day-of-week, desired section, pre-established rates for the advertiser's industry, and available inventory for that particular day. If the newspaper accepts your offer, you upload your ad directly into the system, and your ad runs. If the newspaper does not accept your bid, you can easily start a dialogue with the newspaper to reach an offer that benefits both parties."
Google wants to build a complete advertising machine that lets you create a campaign and choose the mediums best adapted to your ad and budget (web, print, radio, TV, games, outdoor).