Google Offers Advertisers $2000 Credit for Audio Ads

Google recently launched a new promotion that will see it pay advertisers $2000 in advertising credits if they start a campaign using their Audio Ads service.

The Google AdWords based program was designed to help advertisers embrace promotion on radio stations by making the process of managing radio campaigns easier.

The move has many industry commentators speculating that Google's attempts to enter the offline advertising world are stumbling. The audio ads program only came out of closed beta in May this year. For Google to be providing such a strong incentive indicates that radio advertising adoption has been slow.

There are several companies celebrating the success of their Google Radio Ads campaigns, with a GotVMail testimonial suggesting they increased site traffic by 5% and new customer revenue by 7%. Unfortunately there is also a rumbling of discontent from several other Audio Ads advertisers.

To redeem the offer, advertisers are required to spend at least $1000 on a "single" campaign. This in itself could be the underlying reason behind Google's Radio Advertising program woes - a price tag beyond the budget of its legion of existing AdWords advertisers.

Posted by Rene LeMerle at 11:54 AM GMT