First Look at Google Audio (Radio) Ads

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 by Jeremy Luebke

First Look at Google Audio (Radio) Ads

Back in December Google ran a very limited beta test of their new Audio Ads product. They recently began expanding the beta and I was able to get my hands on an account.

Below are a few screenshots and an overview of the Audio Ads system setup. For more detailed information you should read the Audio Ads help section.

Campaigns
The campaign view looks much like the normal Adwords interface. Instead of clicks and CTR% you see ad plays (number of time an ad airs) and impressions (estimated number of people who heard your ad).

audience estimates (impression estimates) are delivered by Google based on Arbitron’s copyrighted and proprietary audience estimates. They are not estimates produced by Arbitron. For details on survey period & audience type, please refer to your campaign reports.

Audio Library
The audio library is where you upload, store, and preview your radio ads for current and future use.

When uploading, you are asked to include a written transcript of the audio ad.
Your ad is sent to Google for pre-approval before it can be used live.

Audio Ad Specialists
Google has provided an audio ad specialist search function for those that don’t already have an audio ad and would like help finding a contractor to produce, write, or record one.

You can search by what services they provide, your budget, and the date the ad is needed.
The results include the specialists name, a mini bio, how they structure their fees, and whether they accept Google Checkout as a form of payment.
You can request bids from multiple specialist to help find the best fit for your requirements.

Campaign Setup

Budgeting is done by the week. The default amounts are $250, $500, or $1,000 with a custom budget also being an option.
Select the locations to run your ads. Options include the entire U.S., local market, state, or zip code.
Select target demographics based on age range & gender.
Play ads based on demographics or narrow by station format.

Budgeting & Scheduling

Verify your weekly budget.
Determine the max you are willing to pay for every thousand estimated listeners (CPM).
Schedule days of the week for your ad to run.
Schedule the times of the day for your ad to run.
Get final estimates on how many impressions and ad displays your ad will receive.

For more screenshots, see this Flickr slideshow.

The one thing I did not see was any form of stand alone reports. According to the help files, there will be “Campaign Broadcast Logs.” I assume those will be available on the dashboard once a radio ad has actually been played.

Unfortunately Google will not report which radio stations the ads actually played on. Specific stations cannot be targeted either. In the future I would like to see the ability to provide each station with their own unique version of the ad. This would allow custom tracking through the use of unique domains and unique tracking numbers. It would also open up the door for requesting ads stop running on poor performing stations.

Overall I found the system to be very intuitive and the pricing structure very reasonable. I plan on running a few test campaigns on a new domain so the radio traffic can be properly measured. I’ll report back when I have some concrete traffic and sales stats.

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20 comments on “First Look at Google Audio (Radio) Ads”

Andy Beal Says:

March 27th, 2007 at 2:12 pm

Nice scoop on the screenshots Jeremy!
Google’s Audio Ads Sport a Simple, AdWords-like Interface Says:

March 27th, 2007 at 3:22 pm

[...] Good ol' Marketing Pilgrim has come through again with more information on Google Audio Ads. I've been quite curious (and more than a little skeptical) of the service since day one. And the folks at Marketing Pilgrim keep dishing out information on the service that I can't find anywhere else. [...]
First Look at Google Audio (Radio) Ads « Tons of Fresh News Says:

March 27th, 2007 at 11:31 pm

[...] First Look at Google Audio (Radio) Ads First Look at Google Audio (Radio) Ads “Back in December Google ran a very limited beta test of their new Audio Ads product. They recently began expanding the beta and I was able to get my hands on an account. Below are a few screenshots and an overview of the Audio Ads system setup.”[technology] [news] [industry news] [...]
Matt McGee Says:

March 27th, 2007 at 11:34 pm

Jeremy – is there anything in there about a minimum spend? I thought I read somewhere recently that the audio ads had a $20,000 minimum spend. (Your screenshot showing $997 suggests otherwise….)
Jeremy Luebke Says:

March 28th, 2007 at 2:27 am

There is no huge minimum. The minimum is $250 a week and there is no minimum contract length. You can cancel at any time.

That $997 is for a month. You don’t have to actually run the full month.
PageTraffic Blog -SEO, Link Building, Life at PageTraffic » Blog Archive Google Audio (Radio) Ads: An Overview » Says:

March 28th, 2007 at 5:31 am

[...] Get an inside view of Google Audio Ads at Marketing Pilgrim. [...]
Search Daily News » Audio Ads On Google - Preview Says:

March 28th, 2007 at 5:43 am

[...] The full post can be viewed at http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/03/first-look-at-google-audio-rad io-ads.html [...]
The Media Age » Google Has No Competitive Advantage in Print, Television or Radio Says:

March 28th, 2007 at 7:57 am

[...] EDIT2: Review of Google Radio Ads is out. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
Google Radio Ads Preview by Betaflow Says:

March 28th, 2007 at 9:01 am

[...] Jeremy Luebke is participating in the beta of Google’s Audio Ads and has posted a preview of how it all goes down. [...]
Richard Says:

March 28th, 2007 at 10:43 am

Do you know if they have any plans to serve audio ads in podcasts, online radio stations and other audio-based services?
Urbanology Weblog » Blog Archive » First look at Google audio ads Says:

March 29th, 2007 at 9:14 am

[...] For more detailed information check the full article [...]
Jonix Says:

March 30th, 2007 at 1:27 am

that’s a breaking news indeed. The internet is advancing day after day, in 6 to 10 years, no one knows how to leave without internet, everything will be online. At least for most of the world countries.
Friday Night Link-o-rama » Small Business SEM Says:

March 30th, 2007 at 11:56 pm

[...] Meanwhile, here are a couple good looks at two services from the Google: Jeremy Luebke has a First Look at Google Audio (Radio) Ads and Patrick Schaber provides a movie review-style title in his post, Google’s Website Optimizer: A Slick New Tool Worth Trying. Like, seriously, you can see the quote in Google’s next ad already: “Slick New Tool Worth Trying” — Patrick Schaber [...]
Some good links to see inside beta AdWords programs » eWhisper.net Says:

March 31st, 2007 at 11:46 am

[...] View the AdWords radio ads interface. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
Google audio ads - first look « Adrian Pegg | my media Says:

April 17th, 2007 at 3:34 am

[...] April 17th, 2007 · No Comments Thanks to James for the link to this selection of screenshots from the Beta test of Google’s audio ads offering. [...]
Talking Voices: Word of Mouth for the World » Google Audio Ads Says:

April 17th, 2007 at 5:08 pm

[...] Jeremy Luebke has been beta testing Google audio ads- fascinating article. [...]
Paul Elosegui Says:

April 21st, 2007 at 2:18 pm

Further scary news for agencies
audio-book-mp3.onlyaudiobooks Says:

September 7th, 2007 at 7:03 am

[...] approve this impressive column at http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/03/first-look-at-google-audio-rad io-ads.html about [...] audio-book-mp3.onlyaudiobooks Subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed [...]
SEO Keyword Research Says:

March 27th, 2008 at 2:16 pm

Hello. I just quickly scanned the comments, I hope no one answered this, but you can see what stations the ads were broadcast on. Its in the reports section. I found your site because I am trying to find out how Google is able to buy this inventory so cheap. Is it unsold blocks or what? We use the radio spots quite a bit and it has proven to be very productive. Once again, sorry if I said something already posted. I am doing turbo surfing to find the answer to my question.
radio house Says:

February 12th, 2009 at 9:37 am

I like this kind of reading,
thanks for your blog,my rss reader like it

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