Google to sell print advertisements

Google plans to start selling advertisements that will appear in the print editions of 50 major newspapers.

The plan will expand Google's computer system, which already auctions off advertisements on millions of Web sites, to take bids for newspaper ads as well. It may also help Google reach out to a new crop of customers like small businesses and online retailers.

Some big newspaper companies like Gannett, The Tribune Company, The New York Times Company, the Washington Post Company and Hearst, have agreed to try the system in a three-month test set to start later this month.

Google's long-term goal is to build a single computer system through which advertisers can promote their products in any medium. For the newspaper industry, reeling from the loss of both readers and advertisers, this new system offers a curious bargain: the publishers can get much-needed revenue but in doing so they may well make Google — which is already the biggest seller of online advertising — even stronger.

The new system will begin a test with 100 advertisers later this month. Google will not earn any revenue during the test, but when the system is formally introduced next year, it will take a cut of the advertising revenue. Google keeps about 20 per cent of revenue for internet ads it places.