But Will Somebody Read the Text Ads Aloud?

David Card | January 17, 2006, 07:47 PM

Okay, I know Google is the richest company in the universe (after Microsoft), but come on, the way the dMarc deal is being covered is fairly nutty.

Financial data for the company weren't available, but Jefferies analyst Youssef Squali said the deal structure -- a small upfront payment and large potential pay-out based on performance targets -- shows it is driven more by "what it can do for both companies in terms of growth/profitability over the next three years than what dMarc has at present."

Financial data weren't available because dMarc is tiny. Its main business is in station operation management. According to the same Journal article -- and dMarc's website, now that's investigative journalism -- dMarc has deals with "more than 500 radio stations."

There are 12,000 radio stations in the country (well, 10,000 commercial ones.) What percentage of radio ad inventory is sold as remnant, on-demand? One percent? At most? The bigger play, as Niki reminds me, would be late-night infomercials, which are already primed for direct marketing efficiences and yield management.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's critical for Google's ad network to extend beyond online, but this is very very very early. Note that Google says "Since these contingent payments are based on the achievement of performance targets, actual payments may be substantially lower." Yeah, I bet they could.