A number of recent patent filings from Google were published at the USTPO, and may provide some insights into Google’s advertising models for Television, Radio, and Podcasts.
I’ve linked to the patent filings below, and included the abstracts from those rather than an analysis of the filings. Most of those abstracts are pretty good summaries.
If you’re also interested in what Google might be doing with mobile search results, Nadir at SEO Principle has a nice analysis of a Google patent application on blending mobile search results, ranking and mixing mobile specific pages with Web pages during a mobile search.
Google Television Advertising
Television advertisements and associated advertisement parameters are received from advertisers. The television advertisements are automatically selected for airing during an advertisement availability based on the associated advertisement parameters. Data related to the selected television advertisements are provided to a television provider to facilitate airing of the selected television advertisements during the advertisement availability. Reporting data related to television advertisement airings and impressions are received from the television provider.
Advertising parameters and associated television advertisements are received from advertisers. The television advertisements can be designated as pending approval. An automated approval process and a television provider approval process can be utilized to approve or disapprove of the television advertisements pending approval. Approved television advertisements can be provided to the television provider, e.g., by a download process over a network.
Set top box logs are received from a television provider and processed to identify channel tunes and channel tune times. The channel tunes and channel tune times of the log data can be compared to expected air times of television advertisements on channels, and an impression value, e.g., projected viewers, can be generated for each television advertisement.
Reporting data related to content processing devices, e.g., television devices, are processed to identify channel tunes and corresponding tune times of the content processing devices. Automatically generated channel tunes based on the corresponding tune times are identified. Content items that are aired during a period defined by the corresponding tune times can be adjusted.
Google Podcast Advertising
Systems and methods for delivering audio content to listeners. In general, one aspect can be a method that includes receiving a request to download a podcast, and determining a targeted advertisement to be inserted into the podcast. The method also includes inserting the targeted advertisement into the podcast dynamically at a predetermined time. Other implementations of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer program products
Dynamic Podcast Content Delivery
Systems and methods for delivering podcast content dynamically in an automated podcast platform. In general, one aspect can be a method that includes receiving a request to download a podcast, and determining an item of audio content to be inserted into the podcast. The method also includes inserting the item of audio content into the podcast dynamically at a predetermined time. Other implementations of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer program products.
Google Radio Advertising
Estimating Off-Line Advertising Impressions
A computer-implemented method for monitoring the effectiveness of advertisements broadcast is described. The method includes detecting that an advertisement has been aired by a broadcast station, monitoring a network for a duration after the airing of the advertisement for activity attributable to the airing of the advertisement, and developing a quantitative relationship between the activity and many listeners of the advertisement.
Sharing Media Content Among Families of Broadcast Stations
Sharing media content among families of broadcast stations includes receiving information relating to media content from families of broadcast stations, storing the information such that the information is accessible to at least two of the families of broadcast stations via a computer network, receiving a query for specific media content from a broadcast station, searching the stored information by the query to identify the specific media content; and enabling the broadcast station to access to the specific media content if the specific media content is identified among the stored information.
Leader and Follower Broadcast Stations
An apparatus includes a plurality of software-controlled broadcast stations, each station capable of operating in a leader mode or a follower mode during a simulcast. Each station in the follower mode is configured to broadcast the same programs as a station in the leader mode during common program periods and to selectively broadcast programs that are different from those broadcast by the station in the leader mode during independent program periods.
Multi-Station Media Controller
A system including a plurality of software-controlled broadcast stations each having at least one media asset, and a controller to allow a user to link a first media asset of a first one of the stations to a second media asset of a second one of the stations. When the user schedules the first station to broadcast the first media asset at a specified time, the controller automatically causes the second station to broadcast the second media asset at the specified time.
Offline advertising for Google – about time or feeling pressure?
Hi Dennis,
I think it makes sense for Google to explore some of these options. Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, has stated in a number of speeches that Google wouldn’t go into an area where they couldn’t be innovative, and with the methods that they describe in the patent filings above, they are doing some things that are interesting.
In finding ways to estimate or measure the numbers of viewers or listeners to offline ads on TV and radio, advertisers might be able to get a better idea of who and how many people are seeing or hearing those advertisements.
It does seem to veer away from the notion of “organizing the worlds information and making it universally accessible,” though.
Did the CEO say that before or after YouTube & SU loll
Hi Dennis,
I believe I heard that in at least three different speeches in 2007.
Comscore just released some statistics on the market shares for searches performed at the major search engines, and YouTube actually surpassed Yahoo in August, 2008, in the number of searches performed. I’m not sure that any other video site is close to them in the amount of traffic served, or people participating in uploading their own videos, either.
By SU, do you mean StumbleUpon? I’m a big fan of SU. There are rumors that eBay is trying to sell the service. I could see Google try to buy it.
It’s Dennis 😉
That may be true with YouTube and I’m sure it is. Thing is though, it has been reported more then once now that they are having serious issues trying to monetize it.
Trying to pull dead rabbits outa the hat as it were, and quite possibly lookinmg to get out altogether.
My bad on SU, I got confused between eBay and Google…..simple mistake though, two super giants buying real estate just because they can with little forethought as to whether they can actually make them fit. LOL
Sorry, Dennis.
I had heard something about problems monetizing YouTube too, but not recently. The slides from their third quarter financial statement this year do say that YouTube is one of the areas of their operation that they are focusing upon, and they surprised many with greater earnings that expected. We don’t have a detailed 3Q statement yet, so we don’t know how much of that involves YouTube.
The eBay purchase of SU was a surprise, and I’m not sure they knew what to do with it. Fortunately, they don’t seem to have damaged yet. If they do sell it, it will be interesting to see who decides to buy it.
And how much of a loss they may incur.
There are intangibles that go beyond dollars and cents, and I think whoever might become the owner of StumbleUpon, if it sells, will be the beneficiary of much good will as well as access to data that could be pretty useful to some who could use it.
The Stumbleupon toolbar plugin that lets you see the presense of reviews from SU members in search results from the major search engines is ahead of anything that the search engines have come up with themselves.
More and more big companies who use advertising revenue to make money are looking at companies on the internet where they can buy and make money that way, the reason is as we all know, more and more people are using the internet and more and more companies and exploring the internet to promote their products and using Television and radio less. You only have to look at the british company ITV who have been buying companies like Friends Reunited to gain advertising revenue and more companies are following.
We will see more and more internet companies being bought for this reason which asks the question, are TV companies at risk of going broke if this trends continues with less companies advertising on TV
Hi Diane,
I’m hoping that the competition for advertising dollars means better television programming rather than harm to television broadcasting itself.
The Google patent filings above provide ways for advertisers to more effectively take advantage of advertising on television and radio, and measure the impact of those ads better.
Dennis,
I think Diane has a point – is the Broadcast TV corporate world in trouble?
As I look at what has happened to the print world (newspapers) in the last 8 years….are TV execs losing sleep over Google nipping at their heels.
Hi Tom,
Broadcast TV faced a significant hurdle with the arrival of cable television years ago, and the Web and services like Tivo bring a new challenge. Broadcast Radio also faces a growing challenge with satellite radio, and with a possible growth of wireless internet over unused white spaces that were unused previously for empty broadcast television stations. Business models change over time. It will be interesting to see how Broadcast TV handles the challenge.
Check out “Google – we are not a monopoly presentation” – http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-were-not-a-monopoly-powerpoint-presentation-2009-5