Google Print (Newspaper) Setup Screens

I was messing around with Google print in an AdWords account last night and took some screenshots of the setup process.

Here's the first screen, "new print campaign setup"


After you fill in all the required fields and click the "browse all newspapers" button in the choose newspapers section you're presented with this screen:

After you pick the newspaper(s) you want to run in it's on to the 3rd screen where you choose your ad size(s) and enter your bid(s):

You can move the slider back and forth to get an idea of the likelihood of the newspaper running your ad. For kicks I moved it all the way to the right. I was hoping for an entertaining message like "snowballs chance in hell" but instead I just got "long shot":

After hitting next on that screen you're moved to the area where you can submit your creative. Since I was just messing around with the interface I don't actually have any creative ready to submit at the moment so I checked "upload files later" then just saved it as a draft.

All in all I think it's a pretty smooth setup process and am looking forward to getting a few live ads in print in the coming weeks. Props to the print team for a job well done. Wish I would have had access to this interface last year when I participated in my first AdWords newspaper test. Would have made things a heck of lot easier.

Newspapers in Google Print Program

Check out the Google Newspaper directory. It includes all the newspapers that participate in the Google print program.

The print team has been busy as that's a lot more newspapers than I expected.

Google Newspaper Ads Test Results

I logged in this morning and took a look at the "final" results for the Google newspaper ad test we participated in. A couple things really jumped out at me;

1. In the grand scheme of things the overall traffic delivered via our ad was low - less than 1,000 visitors total.

2. Visitors who arrived at the site via the newspaper ad generated 70% fewer page views than visitors who arrive via PPC channels.

3. Visitors who arrived at the site via the newspaper ad spent 30% less time on the site than PPC traffic.

4. Visitors who arrived at the site via the newspaper ad registered at the site at a rate almost identical (just a touch lower) to those who arrive via PPC.

So overall the newspaper test delivered a small set of visitors who had metrics that were below average when compared to PPC traffic.

This was free test so it was more about peaking in at the potential than making a dollar. I will say that based on the results form the test the newspaper ads would have to be pretty inexpensive for this model to work in certain markets, and, tracking results at the level in which PPC managers are accustomed too isn't there - or it least it wasn't there for me.

I think overall there is potential for this program - pricing, trackability and ease of setup/scheduling will be three of the biggest issues from what I can tell. That said, if there really is an interface for newspaper ads that I didn't get to see, well, that would change everything. I am looking forward to more testing - free or otherwise - with this service when possible.

Oh yea, here's the pdf that shows our ad. It's the chefs ad in the lower right.

Google Newspaper Ads via AdWords Interface?

Via Searchengineland I came across a Washington Post article called Google Set To Expand Newspaper Ad Program.

I have to admit - I'm confused as to what the WP article is actually talking about - the print/magazine program or the newspaper ads program?

Here are a few quotes from the WP article that I don't get;

"This fall, the search-engine company proposed to show how it could help newspapers sell print advertising to the hundreds of thousands of small merchants who buy Internet ads from Google. Advertisers would go online and bid on the excess ad inventory of daily newspapers, giving them a much-needed revenue boost."

There was an online bidding form you could fill out for the print/magazine program, not for the newspaper test that was just conducted with 100 advertisers. I was one of the 100 and the process was completely manual - there was no where to login and do/check anything. That was how it worked for me at least. Back in November the NYT also reported there is an online interface for the newspaper test:

"Advertisers then can log into Google’s main advertising system, known as AdWords, and click to go to the newspaper section. They will see a list of the participating papers and the sorts of ads that are available. They can then enter a bid for a certain type of advertisement, specifying the section and date range. Newspapers in turn see these bids and accept the ones they want. "

So maybe there is an interface but I wasn't given access to it for the test? Seems odd if Google was only working with 100 advertisers wouldn't they want them all really testing the system out?

More from the WP:

"Now, two months into a test with 100 advertisers and 66 newspapers, Google executives say that its pilot program has exceeded their expectations and that they will roll out an expanded version in the coming months. The top five participating newspapers are getting several bids a week from advertisers, the company said."

Still confused. All the newspaper ads I ran were placed for free and I've never been given an option to place any bids. Are advertisers contacting the papers directly to place bids or is are being bids being placed via the "newspaper" section of Google AdWords I've never seen?

More from the WP:

"Google's online system allows advertisers to choose the newspaper and the section, such as Food or Sports or Business, and where they want the ad to run, and then place a bid for that space for a particular day or series of days. The newspaper reviews the bids online and decides which, if any, to accept."

If the article is accurate it appears there is some sort of online system - I just don't get why only certain people from the 100 test group are using it. My biggest issue with the test was the total lack of transparency and control (more to follow in January)...that might not have been the case if I had access to this interface.

If nothing else the WP article has sparked my interest - maybe there's more to the Google newspaper test than I've seen so far. I would love to see a sreenshot of the AdWords Newspaper interface if anyone has one.

Another related article:
http://www.newsandtech.com/issues/2006/12-06/nt/12-06_google-ads.htm