By Michael Liedtke, Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --Google Inc. will stop selling ads on broadcast radio stations this spring, marking the Internet search leader’s latest flop in off-line media.
The retreat announced Thursday is just the latest example of how the recession has caused even highly profitable companies like Google to reassess their priorities and toss out the deadwood.
The impending closure of the radio ad service extends a series of cost-cutting measures that have signaled Google’s management is bracing for leaner times after years of robust revenue growth that enabled the Mountain View-based company to spend freely and gamble on new ventures.
Google’s other austerity measures have included abandoning an ad program for newspapers, shutting down several unprofitable online services and jettisoning company contractors as well as at least 100 full-time employees.
As many as 40 more workers could be laid off after Google pulls the plug on the radio ad service at the end of May. Google currently has about 20,200 employees.
Emboldened by its dominance of the Internet ad market, Google expanded into broadcast radio three years ago with the purchase of a service called dMarc for more than $120 million. The company could have been obligated to pay an additional $1.1 billion if certain financial targets had been hit, but the push into radio evidently didn’t pay off.
“While we’ve devoted substantial resources to developing these products and learned a lot along the way, we haven’t had the impact we hoped for,” Susan Wojcicki, Google’s vice president of product management, wrote in a company blog.
About 1,600 radio stations had been participating in the program, according to Google.
Instead of trying to place ads on broadcast radio, Google said it will try to deploy some of the technology for audio streamed on the Internet. The company will try to sell the part of the operation that automated the process of placing ads on broadcast radio.
Although it’s exiting newspaper and broadcast radio advertising, Google will still try to distribute television commercials designed to appeal to viewers’ individual interests. NBC Universal, Bloomberg TV and Hallmark Channel are among the networks participating in the television ad service, which Google started in 2007.
Google’s inability to diversify has left the company dependent on Internet advertising, which accounted for virtually all of its $21.8 billion in revenue last year. Even so, the company remains well positioned to grow for years to come because advertisers are expected to steadily increase their online spending to connect with customers migrating to the Internet from print publications, radio and TV.
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More