A sign of the times for radio? Google drops ad program

February 16, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment 

So if you’re looking for a trend here, Google has now dropped its newspaper ad model and its radio ad model. Hum. Not tough to see right? Here’s a quote from the story “Google to discontinue radio ads program” from B to B.

Susan Wojcicki, Google’s VP-product management, said in a blog discussing the shutdown of Google Audio Ads: “… we have decided to exit the broadcast radio business and focus our efforts in online streaming audio. We will phase out the existing Google Audio Ads and AdSense for Audio products and plan to sell the Google Radio Automation business, the software that automates broadcast radio programming.

We’ve been learning quite a bit about the radio market here locally in Des Moines.  The create WOW media team helped local daily talk show Mac’s World Live begin streaming live daily and built a blog based web site for him.  Then, Mac actually began streaming the show live from our studio daily after his recent deal on AM radio fell through.

The number one takeaway so far?  “It’s actually more cost effective in our local market to produce and host a 1 hour radio show each week than it is to buy advertising on a show.”  If that sounds counter-intuitive to you…I’m with you.

I’m not going to sound the death bell of terrestrial radio because like other things, it will find its place.  But think:  How many millennials will be getting their information from an AM signal in about 5-10 years?  I think Gen X is already about the cutoff point that still even knows that AM exists.  Of course it does depend on your market considering in SoCal the ONLY station in my life was the talk radio powerhouse KFI AM 640.  If I want a dose of AM radio now, I actually stream it live on the web.  Sign?

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