Comments on: Wow! Google Audio Ads Are $20k Per Month

By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:38:05 +0000

You can actually set your own budget — I am running a Google audio ad in our local market with a budget of only $25 a week. My ad ran 10 or 12 times today and cost me 87 cents. Production of it cost me $7 (of course I have my own recording equipment, so I got a break there — only had to buy some royalty free background music). Just wanted to chime in…

By: Terry

Terry — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 17:48:14 +0000

Just to follow up. The ads will run as often as possible to satisfy the CPM desired. The ads can be targeted to cities, states, and regions or nationwide though many cities are not reached at all. I was told there are over 900 stations in the program now with 50 to 100 more expected to be added each month.

I was told that I could stop the campaign at any time though it was strongly advised to give the radio test a full 4 weeks to see the results desired.

I am very familiar with radio advertising as several clients have ventured into this area of marketing with mixed results. Radio can be very affordable for those who are just testing the waters. A real radio account executive would never tell you that you needed to spend a minimum “X” amount of dollars to be successful, though they might suggest alternative dayparts or days to help keep your costs low.

I am aware of several web based businesses that spend as little as $200.00 a week on radio spots and “special mentions” by radio personality. Also, most radio talent will do a live commercial for as little as $50.00 each spot plus the cost of the spot itself. It varies from station to station and of course the popularity of the personality.

The production of the radio ad itself is included in most radio packages you get at a station but you will need to contact an outside vendor for your Google radio ads. $300.00 to $500.00 more.

Personally, I believe radio advertising can boost the awareness and traffic of many conventional online advertisers who have never tried radio. Unfortunately, Google is apparently not interested in the â€œsmall guysâ€ for this program just yet. However, your local radio station is very interested.

Thanks.

By: Chip Griffin

Chip Griffin — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:05:26 +0000

I’m not sure that Google is targeting the same mass advertising audience with the radio ads as with their web ads. Keep in mind new radio stations aren’t being created, but new web sites are. That means more advertising venues online than in radio. Plus radio already sells a significant percentage of its inventory, whereas it is harder for web sites — especially smaller ones — to do so.

Add to this the fact that radio ads will need closer scrutiny than a text ad on the web and I can easily see why they would target larger campaigns.

Finally, I’m not as familiar as you may be with the typical advertiser size for Google AdWords, but I wonder if larger advertisers don’t make up a more significant portion of their total ad revenue than you might suggest.

By: Everyday Weekender

Everyday Weekender — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 23:22:17 +0000

$20K.. that seems pretty steep to me. You would think that they would start at a lower rate to start with.. they haven’t proved to be successful on the radio yet.

By: How Does $20,000 Sound For a Google Radio Ad?

How Does $20,000 Sound For a Google Radio Ad? — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:56:39 +0000

[...] A couple of days ago I said I wanted to know more about Google's Audio Ads. But I didn't want to hear it from Google or its PR department. I wanted to hear something from actual people who are using the system. Low and behold I stumbled across a post from Marketing Pilgrim that has just what I was looking for: Terry Reeves has commented on Google’s Audio Ads pilot, first reported back in December. Terry spoke with a Google rep and was shocked to learn that a 4-week run of radio ads would cost $20,000. [...]

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:53:21 +0000

ExposureTim – that’s like saying Adwords is not a product but a process. Google Audio Ads is a product – the distrubution may be old (radio) – but the product is in beta.

We’ll agree to disagree.

By: ExposureTim

ExposureTim — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:36:01 +0000

But that’s my point… it’s the process that is a beta, not the product that you buy.

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:10:11 +0000

ExposureTim – I don’t think there’s anything traditional about Google Audio Ads, so there entire process is a beta. I agree that we don’t know what the $20k buys, but I do know that you could “buy” a pretty decent radio campaign for half that amount. We’ll have to wait and see if Google is interested in advertisers who only want to spend a few thousand, or if $20k is the entry point.

By: Jeremy Luebke

Jeremy Luebke — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:59:01 +0000

I have a client who told me they where participating in Google Audio Ads beta. But there is NO way I can see this client dropping $20K. I’ll email them and see what I can find.

By: ExposureTim

ExposureTim — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:07:12 +0000

And radio isn’t a beta product. Google radio *beta is just a method of procuring the ad and paying for it. The product itself is what you make of it.

By: ExposureTim

ExposureTim — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:05:20 +0000

I’ve never heard that radio ads are cheap? Besides the air time, the “talent” gets a fee every time the ad is run. That adds up quickly.

Note: There are some details missing. How often is the ad aired? That’s pretty important. Once per day, once per hour, once per 1/4 hour?

Anyway, I guess Google isn’t really making radio ads affordable for small businesses, but I doubt that was their intention. Even in an auction/bidding environment you have to pay enough for these radio stations to stay on the air. If radio ads were suddenly half the price they used to be, we’d end up with half the “quality” or more ads than normal.

By: Brian Chappell

Brian Chappell — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 02:56:22 +0000

I’ll take 3 ads thanks.