A REALITY CHECK FOR PRINT.

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Author: Elgin, Ben

PLANET GOOGLE

GOOGLE'S EFFORT to roll its advertising juggernaut beyond digital is struggling. But that may not be good news for print media. In February, Google auctioned off ad space it had purchased in about two dozen magazines, from Martha Stewart Living to Road & Track. The auction, the latest twist in a six-month experiment with buying and reselling print ads, was open to thousands of advertisers. But Google was forced to extend the deadline to lure more buyers.

The tepid demand was apparent in some winning bids. Nicholas Longo, CEO of CoffeeCup Software, which makes tools for creating Web sites, bid just $4,600 for each of three half-page ads in Martha Stewart Living. The magazine's rate card pegs the price of a half-page ad at more than $59,000. Longo wound up paying at least 93% less than that. Neither Google nor Martha Stewart Living would reveal what Google originally paid for the space, but it didn't get a similar discount.

Google can certainly digest a loss of tens of thousands of dollars. A spokesperson says the outfit is more concerned with testing the auction process than with any financial return. But the results may indicate that the true value of a page of print lags its list price, at least in the eyes of Google's advertisers, who are used to high-return search engine campaigns.

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Copyright 2006

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By Ben Elgin

Edited By Deborah Stead