Google digs deeper into local media pockets
Cory Bergman August 17th, 2006
This week Google kicked off a new service that gives local merchants the ability to offer printable coupons integrated into Google Maps. The service is free, but Google’s hope is the merchants will buy ads in AdWords that drive traffic to their free coupon pages. “At that point, the advertiser doesn’t need a website,” said Gokul Rajaram, product management director at Google. Sounds like a powerful idea. Terry Heaton points out that company’s real aim is “to pull money from local advertisers into the Google coffers, and this is another slap in the face of local media companies and local ad agencies.” Yep, absolutely.
5 Comments Add your own
1. thedetroitchannel | August 17th, 2006 at 6:09 am
offering businesses anything for free has its perils.
google might consider the tiffany approach and charge up the wazoo for this service… if no one buys it then you raise the price!!!
2. Chris Rooney | August 17th, 2006 at 8:15 am
I saw an odd local commercial last night. I think it was for a car dealership. Rather than giving out the IRL to their own site, the announcer invited the audience to google them and a shot of the Google homepage appeared on the screen. What’s up with that?
3. The New Urgency for Local&hellip | January 15th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
[...] This will be the year that the portals, major national news sites and other pure plays aggressively expand into local content. It’s already underway. Yahoo News, the top news site on the web, has launched local news pages along with You Witness Video, a citizen video service. IAC just premiered AskCity, a local search, mapping and events portal for each of the major markets that’s integrated with CitySearch and Ticketmaster. Google has rolled out a free service that allows local companies to host their own business web pages with the ability to offer free, printable coupons and click-to-call functionality. [...]
4. howardowens.com: media bl&hellip | January 16th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
[...] Cory Bergman issues a wake up call for local TV stations. This will be the year that the portals, major national news sites and other pure plays aggressively expand into local content. It’s already underway. Yahoo News, the top news site on the web, has launched local news pages along with You Witness Video, a citizen video service. IAC just premiered AskCity, a local search, mapping and events portal for each of the major markets that’s integrated with CitySearch and Ticketmaster. Google has rolled out a free service that allows local companies to host their own business web pages with the ability to offer free, printable coupons and click-to-call functionality. [...]
5. Unison | September 28th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
myfreepaysite members private message
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