Google Print Ad Auction Falls Flat

Andy Beal links to an article in Business Week that talks about how Google's attempt at auctioning excess print ad inventory didn't quite spur as much of a deal as they thought it might. It wasn't but a month or so ago that Google bought up some excess inventory in magazines like Martha Stewart Living, Entrepreneur and Road & Track and offered it up in an auction system to Google advertisers.

The first problem Google ran into was a lack of interest in the ads. Google was forced to extend the auctions several days in order to have time to lure more bidders to the game. Even then, prices didn't quite match Google's expectations.

From the article:

The article also mentions that Google previous foray into print ads late last year resulted in 80% of the advertisers stating that they wouldn't buy print ads through Google again.