JOELBYDESIGN

Toward the end of last summer, Google started testing out a new product with a select few of their AdWords customers. AdWords, Google’s bread and butter, is one of few (some may say the only) advertising models that understands and capitalizes on how the web works. (So far, traditional advertising methods are proving ineffective online.) But apparently it’s not enough for Google; they want your TV advertising too.

Google TVads is a revolutionary tool/service recently made public that allows anyone to plan, buy, and track their own campaigns for television. Touting an unsurprisingly intuitive interface, a vendor marketplace for finding local production studios to create your spots, and unheard of “next-day results,” this new product has many ad agencies scratching their heads in amazement.

Why This Is A Big Deal

The most popular way of advertising on television today follows a process similar to this:

1. You hire an ad agency.
2. They hire a production company to make your commercial(s).
3. They spend hours deciphering which networks and television shows match your target demographic to air your commercial alongside.
4. They take your budget and purchase the time-slots from the TV stations over the phone, then send your commercial to the stations on a DVD or via complicated satellite transmission.
5. The television stations air your commercials as close to the time slots you selected as they deem possible.
6. Your ad agency then receives the invoices from all the TV stations telling you which time slots were actually run (time slots are very rarely guaranteed) and your GRP’s achieved.
7. You then wait 3-6 mos. until the next media book comes out to do a “Post-buy Analysis” which helps you gauge the success of your television ad campaign, and to keep your TV stations honest with their projected GRP’s. (Media books are published quarterly by Nielsen, are only available to ad agencies, and give a very vague overview of “who watched what and when.”)
8. Rinse and repeat.

Google replaces this lengthy and difficult process with the following:

1. Select desired networks, dayparts, and programs.
2. Upload and select your ad.
3. Set a budget and bid the max CPM that you are willing to pay.
4. Track and optimize. (The next day!)

What This Means For Small Businesses:

If you have the time and manpower to do it in-house, Google has just increased your TV advertising budget by 15% (the minimum commission fee paid to an ad agency for media buys). What used to take many, many hours (and was money well earned for ad agencies) now takes only a fraction of the time with Google TVads, and costs only what you spend to create the commercial and place it on television networks.

What This Means For Ad Agencies:

You’re not out of a job - life just got easier! Dump your expensive media purchasing software, take this and present it to your clients with all its great features. It’s still going to take someone to maintain it, and the client may not have the time, manpower or the desire to do it in-house. You just scored a free, time-saving upgrade and look brilliant for doing it! (If you’re really aggressive, cut your media buy commission in half for them and they’ll never look for another ad agency again.)

What This Means For The Future Of Advertising

Television shows are already online: NBC, CBS, FOX. With TVads, Google is placing themselves to be at the forefront of the television revolution. Even if TVads doesn’t end up being the solution for the future, it will most likely be very similar to this.