We don't usually blog this frequently, but yesterday's announcement that Google PrintAds is now available merited special attention.

PrintAds is just like it sounds, Google driven ads, that appear in print, instead of online. Although PrintAds has been around since November 2006, to select high volume advertisers, it is now available to all Google Adwords advertisers.

This means you can now place ads in 225 'quality' newspapers in the U.S., using geography, circulation, ad size, section (local, business, sports), and of course day of week. One thing you won't be able to do yet is place the ad on a contextual basis, or by keyword. Contextual refers to ads that are placed next to articles that are related (eg. condo ad next to article on condo living).

There is even a bid component to it, in that the newspaper can reject the ad or come back with a counteroffer.

This is newsworthy because Google as you may know, already has radio inventory, and you can see how their ad network is now evolving into a total advertising network. The fact that 98% of the newspapers that piloted the PrintAds system have chosen to stay in the network tells us that the newspapers see value in this.

This is a breakthrough as far as mentality. Newspapers have been fighting online adverting for awhile now (and losing). It's far better for them to embrace change and benefit from it, then to keep believing that motorized carriages will never replace the horse and buggy.

The best part of this is advertisers are reporting an increase in sales and inquiries of around 20%. So if the ads are priced right, it can have ROI that may approximate online.

Labels: Google, Google Ad network, newspaper advertising, PrintAds