Google moved to reassure broadcasters on April 16 that the Internet company was not encroaching on their turf after announcing two major deals that widen its scope in the advertising industry. "Google is a new phenomena. It does not replace radio and television," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told delegates at the National Association of Broadcasters' annual conference.
Over the weekend, the Web search leader announced a multi-year advertising sales agreement with the largest US broadcaster, Clear Channel Radio.
"It seems to me that Google has an advertising business that can add to the success of radio and television world-wide," Schmidt said. Clear Channel said it has agreed for Google to sell a guaranteed portion of the 30-second spots available on its 675 radio stations in top US markets, in a bid to expand the universe of local radio advertisers to Google's online buyers.
Schmidt said it looks like advertising in radio and television has been relatively flat in revenue growth. "If our technology can bring more advertisers to radio, I think that is a good thing," he said.
Google's pay-per-click Web search ad system has transformed the effectiveness of online advertising. "Advertisers care about efficiency, measurability, targetability," said Schmidt. "The tools that Google are developing are simply better tools than the previous generation of technology."