There’s a certain sense of schadenfreude that comes from watching an Internet ace try at something and fail.
There’s also a certain sense of alarm when you realize that if they can’t succeed in what many are viewing as a declining medium, who can?
A recent article in BusinessWeek titled Can Google Go Glossy? takes a look at Google’s less-than-stellar foray into print advertising and its impact on the company’s bottom line as well as the rest of the industry itself.
A quick excerpt:
“…a closer look at Google’s foray into magazine ads suggests it could be in for a tough slog…Only one of 10 advertisers interviewed by BusinessWeek said their print ad performed well enough to recoup the money it cost. And eight of the 10 were unhappy enough with the results that they say they’re unlikely to do further print advertising with Google.”
Why is Google having it so rough? Several reasons, says BusinessWeek:
- Magazine ads typically aren’t created for direct marketers, right now this group is the majority of Google advertisers.
- Google’s algorithms are (obviously) much more difficult to apply offline.
- Google can’t dynamically lower the price on print ads the way it can online. This makes it harder for marketers to justify the expense.
Related: Google Ventures Further Into Print
