Newspapers to test plan to sell ads on Google

In a move into the old-fashioned business of ink on paper, Google is going to start selling advertisements that will appear in the print editions of 50 major newspapers, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Google's plan will give the publishing business a high-tech twist: the company will expand its computer system, which already auctions off advertisements on millions of websites, to take bids for newspaper ads as well, according to the report.

Hoping to reach out to a new crop of customers, such as small businesses and online retailers, many of the largest newspaper companies, including Gannett, the Tribune Company, The New York Times Company, the Washington Post Company and Hearst, have agreed to try the system in a three-month test set to start later this month.

For Google, the test is an important step toward the company's audacious long-term goal: to build a single computer system through which advertisers can promote their products in any medium, said the report.

For the newspaper industry, reeling from the loss of both readers and advertisers, this new system offers a curious bargain: the publishers can get much-needed revenue but in doing so they may well make Google -- which is already the biggest seller of online advertising -- even stronger, the report added.

The new system will begin a test with 100 advertisers later this month.

Google will not earn any revenue during the test, but when the system is formally introduced next year, it will take a cut of the advertising revenue. Google keeps about 20 percent of revenue for internet ads it places.

Source: Xinhua