Internet Marketing Monitor
March 14, 2007
Filed Under (Advertising, Google) by Derick on 03-14-2007
 
The Inside AdWords blog has posted a call for more Google Audio Ads testers.  There's a quick form to fill out to submit an application into the testing program.  The main thing missing from the post is any concrete evidence that the system is working: 
In terms of feedback, the Audio Ads team has heard that beta testers like the simple and clean user interface and the targeting and reporting options. Beta testers also find the audio ad creation process easy and fast since it only takes them a few days to create their ads and launch their first campaigns (as compared to potentially weeks for traditional radio ads).
That means nothing to me.  Google has been telling beta testers that they'd like the simple and clean user interface.  They've been telling testers that they'll like the ease of creating an ad.  So this is stuff we've all heard before.
 
Where are the beta testers that are supposedly saying this?  Maybe I missed that memo.  But I haven't heard any positive feedback from anyone using the Audio Ads system as of yet.
 
I'm really not trying to be negative about all this.  I'll admit that I have no idea how the system works.  But why is the only real feedback we're getting coming from Google's PR department: 
We thought a lot about how to expand the reach of our message, and radio seemed like a great opportunity – it's a 'main stream America' type of channel, but we had zero experience in it. My impression was it was something for bigger companies, or at least companies with bigger pockets and a bigger appetite for risk. Then we learned about Google Audio Ads and thought 'not only does it address our concerns but we can custom fit it to our budget and marketing goals.' So we decided to take the big plunge into radio. We've been really pleased with the experience.
This is a quote from one of the test program's users cited on the Inside AdWords blog post.  But let's look at that with a critical eye for a minute.  You know I'm fond of analyzing things.
 
More than half of that quote has nothing to do with Audio Ads.  Sure, it offers some background information on why the company was looking at radio ads in general.  But the part that deals with Google Audio Ads (the last couple of sentences) doesn't really say anything.  In fact, it sounds like a prepared statement (I'm not saying it is… I'm just saying it sounds like one).
 
I would love to be able to read stuff like this and say "Yay!  Google is having success with something besides search engine advertising!"  I really would.  But I'm gonna need more than this.  I know the project is still in the testing phase.  But how about some numbers Google?  I wanna see the REAL results.
 
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