Google is never one to avoid tackling high-risk projects. And Google radio ads was one such endeavor. But Google radio ads was not an overwhelming success. In fact, it is among the tech giant’s failed projects, which also includes Google Print Ads, Google Notebook, Jaiku, and Dodgeball.
Google radio ads were the company’s attempt to expand to radio advertising industries by providing advertisers a way to create online radio campaigns. Google accomplished this by utilizing its metrics on user information and product purchase. The idea was that this information would help radio advertising to realize improved ROI, better efficiency, and higher accountability.
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Google Radio Ads and Why It Failed
Google has been quite successful with its online advertising programs. It is not surprising that it tried to apply the same formula with non-internet advertising. However, it turned out that this approach did not work for radio advertising. Google wanted to provide important information to users through Google radio ads.
It has been years since Google launched Google audio ads. However, the fact remains that advertising remains an important source of review for companies. Through Google radio ads, the company planned to use its metrics for targeting users in offline markets and capitalize on the profitable revenue stream.
It sounded like an excellent idea and a good deal for advertisers offline since the advertising industry has experienced profound changes in the transition from offline media to online sources. However, the metrics that Google used online to identify consumers and markets did not work well in the offline world. It proved difficult to track the success of Google audio ad placement. There were also a few things that made radio executives reluctant to use Google’s methods in advertising.
The Success of Google AdWords Did Not Translate
Google AdWords, now Google Ads, remains one of Google’s successful programs. Its brilliance is in the fact that it makes optimizing campaigns and tracking results extremely simple. With Google’s attempt to venture into the radio ads world through Google audio ads, many assumed it would follow the success of Google AdWords. Many thought the new program would effectively target ads using all kinds of demographic data.
When Google audio ads ran, it seemed that they only allowed delivery ads based on age, gender, the day of the week, and the time of the day. These were not enough for Google radio advertising to work and be as successful as Google AdWords. Thinking about it now, you must be wondering, “Whatever went wrong with Google radio ads?”
A look into this failed project shows that Google overestimated its technology. It misjudged how well the tech would work beyond the confines of the web. More importantly, it did not anticipate the impact of the human side of the business. Advertisers refused to hand over their systems and airtime to Google’s algorithms. And pricing advantages did not offset the other problems inherent in the system.
Issues with Google Radio Ads
Big advertisers steered clear of Google radio ads. Besides the lower rates, radio advertisers had many other issues with Google audio ads. One of these challenges included a small number of clients. Also, tracking radio ads proved harder than with Google Ads. For radio stations, Google’s method of advertising was a lot harder to understand, making the program extremely frustrating to use.
This frustration is one of the reasons why publishers and advertisers were reluctant to accept the changes proposed by Google. The goal behind Google audio ads was for broadcast radio to realize a new revenue stream. The program was meant to create more relevant advertising for radio listeners. Google aimed for it to reorganize the buying and selling of radio ads.
Google devoted significant resources to develop Google radio ads and the associated products for the program. According to the company, they did learn a lot throughout the entire process. However, ultimately it did not have the impact they had hoped it would have. As a result, Google decided to exit this program and focus its efforts on other projects.
Google Radio Ads Neat Features
Though Google radio ads failed, it did have features that captured the attention of publishers. One of those features is known as “Call Reporting.” This feature helps track how radio ads perform. Through this tracking method, it provided numbers you can play on-air and then routed users back to the advertisers.
After this, Google provided advertisers with a detailed report about the number of calls they received created. With this information, advertisers could monitor their ads’ performance.
Companies need to be educated about the best practices on radio and TV advertising. Also, even if businesses do use television, radio, and other platforms, they may need to spend a lot of money to realize any sort of return. Repetition is the key to advertising. And in the case of Google radio ads, it did not support repeat users.
Google’s Plans After Google Radio Ads
After announcing the exit of Google radio ads, Google also decided to shift its focus to online streaming ads. When Google exited Google audio ads, it also phased out all existing AdSense programs for audio products. Their plan also included selling Google Radio Automation, which was the software used to automate broadcast radio programming.
In place of Google radio ads, Google planned to use its technology to create Internet-based solutions regarding ads for online streaming. The company’s plan was to use the tech behind Google audio ads to deliver relevant and targeted ads for audio streaming. In the end, the radio automation assets of Google were purchased by WideOrbit.
Google Digital Audio Ads – The New and Improved Google Radio Ads
Although not exactly Google radio ads, Google started to plug into streaming music services recently. They began delivering audio ads to services streaming music such as Spotify. Google supports audio ads through its programmatic ad platform, DoubleClick. Around that time, an estimated 1.2 billion people streamed music worldwide.
In the U.S., music streaming revenue has topped 7.3 billion U.S. dollars. Spotify had the most paying users, with more than 95 million music fans in the U.S. paying for its streaming services. With these numbers, Google did not waste time to reach out and track users to direct them targeted audio ads.
Google’s programmatic audio solution is integrated with Google Play Music, Spotify, TuneIn, SoundCloud, and Pandora. On the other hand, it did not have access to YouTube material or YouTube Music. Through this program, brands using DoubleClick could buy audio and inventory from Google’s music streaming partners.
The Use of DoubleClick
Through DoubleClick, advertisers could use audio ads to target audiences. Advisers can do that by context, demographic, geography, and language. They can view and measure inventory through DoubleClick’s Bid Manager (DBM) in addition to programmatic buys such as display and video. DoubleClick also provides valuable insights that advertisers can use for measurements and reporting.
Another advantage of DoubleClick is that it uses the same interface to show all its data. This way, advertisers can see all the vital information they use to purchase their digital ads. Using DBM, they can generate reports regarding the performance of their audio ads. But they can only do a cross-platform reporting or manipulate data after accessing Google’s Ads Data Hub.
Upon accessing this relevant data, users can easily make comparisons directly in the user interface. DBM provides all the basic stuff, such as comparisons of audio CPMs and video CPMs. Similarly, the Ads Data Hub is where advertisers can slice, dice, and overlay its data with Google’s own materials.
After the shortcomings of Google radio ads, Google focused its efforts heavily on TV and video ads. But after music streaming services became more widespread, the company decided to promote the use of channels incorporating the DBM. When Google’s audio ads started through the use of DoubleClick, the technology and system experienced growing pains. Today, audio advertising is one of the core components of its digital advertising strategy.
What Is Programmatic Audio Advertising?
Before we can talk about programmatic audio advertising, we need to talk about programmatic advertising itself. Putting it simply, this type of advertising uses software to buy digital ad space. It is in stark contrast with the standard process where people negotiate with one another. Programmatic advertising is now the way people negotiate in the digital advertising industry.
It is useful in a variety of ways. Using machines to purchase ads is more efficient when buying ad space. Through machines, one can save money and effort as both buyer and seller experience costly challenges in the real world. Through programmatic advertising, the process becomes a lot smoother.
The benefits of programmatic advertising extend to audio streaming. Video ads are currently the main component of programmatic advertising. However, audio ads are also gaining traction. As an advertiser in today’s digital world, you are always looking for possible ways to reach out to your target demographic. Similarly, consumers always want better experiences.
As such, your team’s goal is to make sure you can keep up with consumer demands. Besides video ads, there is no reason not to take advantage of the reach of programmatic audio advertising. Although Google radio ads experienced limited success, there is no denying that audio advertising is on its way to rival all other forms of advertising.
Using Digital Audio Ads for Your Business
One of the biggest advantages of audio ads is they can fit any budget. And a substantial advantage for video content is that you can easily fit it into your schedule no matter how busy you are. After all, you can listen to audio ads while doing your chores at home like washing the dishes or doing basic tasks.
Streaming radio, podcasts, and other content channels for audio continue to grow. It makes sense that digital audio advertising grows as well. If you choose to use audio ads for your business, you will have a new channel for reaching customers.
So What Can You Expect for Digital Audio Ads?
First, you can build brand awareness and effective calls-to-action using a simple design. These advantages provide greater assurance that the audio ad space you bought will feature a positive ROI. Also, audio ads’ scalable costs can be a huge help for small and mid-sized businesses. Its refined targeting can increase ROI, promote your marketing strategy, and impact your bottom line.
With these benefits, you can see that audio ads provide you with incredible marketing opportunities. Radio used to be the only option for small business advertising. Today, however, you have many digital innovations to choose from that offer far more efficient results. You can’t run Google radio ads, but other audio ads can help find success.
