Are You Ready for the Google Radio Wave Invasion?
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Google acquired dMarc nearly a year ago, but we have yet to see the search engine do anything with the radio advertising company. What are its plans? Hugo Guzman thinks Google just might change the face of radio advertising...and you'd best be ready for it.
Imagine the future: you're driving in your car, listening to your favorite radio station. An ad comes over the radio waves, telling you about an album you've been thinking about getting, or a movie that features one of your favorite bands, or a T-shirt with a photo of your favorite singer. It's as if the radio knows what you like, and tailors the advertising message based on your personal preferences...almost like Google AdWords, but for your radio.
Well according to industry experts, that future might not be too far off. SEO media pundits are beginning to buzz about Google's acquisition of dMarc, a company devoted to delivering targeted and automated advertising to radio stations across the United States. Big "G" paid $102 million to acquire dMarc back in January of this year, and according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, they have big plans for this burgeoning facet of their overall business model.
Back in June, Schmidt spoke to a group of publishing executives, outlining a detailed vision for the future of location-based delivery of targeted and personalized advertising on the radio waves. He didn't reveal any information on exactly how dMarc fits into that vision, but clearly this big-ticket acquisition is slotted to be the vehicle for the realization of this high-tech dream.
And Schmidt has plenty of reasons for championing this cause; actually, the reasons number in the billions. According to projections made by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, in their "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2005-2009," the market for radio advertising will undergo tremendous growth over the next three years or so. Digital and satellite radio subscriptions, as well as the attraction to advertisers of radio's broad reach and cost-effective pricing, will help the U.S. radio ad market achieve sales of close to or above $24 billion in 2009. That's several billion dollars higher than the current $20 billion plateau that the industry has been sitting on for several years. And what's interesting about this figure is that while traditional radio ad sales may slump in the coming years, due to increased competition with the local cable television market, that dip will be offset by a sharp increase in demand for satellite radio.
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