Google has shut down its television advertising business, saying that it will focus instead on enhanced online and mobile opportunities for video ads.
In a blog post at the end of last week, the search engine giant announced its plans to abandon its TV advertising scheme, which was launched in 2007 with the aim of selling these promotional messages in the same way as online ones.
It says that it has seen its Web-focused clients buy traditional TV advertising for the first time thanks to the service.
However, given the digital distribution revolution and multiscreen reality for entertainment video, the company has decided to shut the product down and focus instead on digital video opportunities.
“Thanks to all our clients, partners and the team that has worked on Google TV Ads over the past few years,” said Google’s Shishir Mehrotra, who wrote the blog post announcing the closure. “Our goal is to provide all our customers with the best digital marketing opportunities,” he added. “The future of video advertising is extremely bright and we’re excited to devote ourselves fully to it.”
He said that Google will be “doubling down on video solutions,” mentioning YouTube, AdWords for Video, and ad serving tools for Web video publishers. He also mentioned Google’s latest project, Google TV.
“We also see opportunities to help users access Web content on their TV screens, through products like Google TV,” he wrote. “Video is increasingly going digital, and users are now watching across numerous devices.”
Mehrotra said that the workers involved in Google TV Ads will be transitioned to other areas of the country, and added that Google will continue to support its partners and its clients’ campaigns as it shuts the product down.
Read the official Google blog post here
