AdExchanger.com asked ad industry executives: “What’s your take on Google announcing yesterday that it is now selling guaranteed ‘premium’ inventory from publishers on the Google Display Network?”
John Montgomery is COO, North America of GroupM Interaction, a WPP Company.
“This is a beta program running across a few verticals. Google appears to be pursuing the premium display sector in order to get more share from brand advertising which is a sector where they have low penetration.
This does not seem to be a unique product. The industry is not crying out for it – it is possible to buy, guaranteed ‘secondary premium’ inventory elsewhere, but it is significant that Google is expanding their product range to include this new sector. Google is traditionally valued for the aggregation of long tail inventory and I can only assume that they are regarding the online brand category as one which offers them potential to grow.
The success will depend on which publishers join their premium network and whether this is audience that agencies and their clients can buy for less elsewhere.”
