Google has given up trying to act as an advertising agency for certain print publications: maybe online really is a good idea! What initially appeared as a logical idea – Google could sell an print advert by splitting it up and selling to several advertisers – didn’t work. Personally I’m glad that they’ve stopped: I felt it was creating a page of classified adverts, rather than a completely new model for print advertising. An approach that works online doesn’t necessarily work in print, a fact that Google and its advertising customers have recognised.
