2007 year

• Google goes offline to attract SMEs

  Google is to embrace several ‘traditional' advertising routes for the first time in a bid to attract business from small and medium companies.

  It is planning to use elements of outdoor, press, ambient and radio advertising to attract key targets to its Adwords product. According to UK product marketing manager Lee Hunter, adverts will begin appearing in the third quarter, although precise details are still under wraps.

  "We will be scaling up our traditional advertising routes in the coming quarters. Google isn't known for doing offline advertising but we've done a trial which has had a degree of success and helped us to reach our quarterly goals," he says.

  The trial has been taking place over the past two months in the form of press adverts in business publications, such as Management Today, to promote the AdWords product. It is also promoting a new service called the AdWords starter page. The starter page service is aimed at SMEs who are yet to build their own website but want to try online marketing. Google claims that in many international markets, 30 to 50 per cent of SMEs do not have a website and cannot advertise online.

  Previously, Google has done only a minimal amount of offline advertising in print form, relying on online methods to push its brand.

  The search engine giant is keen to strengthen its relationship with SMEs to attract advertising revenue from them. The trade press trial has incorporated a promotional incentive to drive companies to advertise on Google, with ?30 worth of online advertising vouchers being made available for free via a URL.

  Last month Google announced that it was seeking a head of B2B marketing. Hunter confirms that much of the work for the forthcoming advertising campaigns will be the responsibility of whoever takes the role. To date, Google is still in the recruitment process.

  It is also known to be keen to step up its relationships with agencies as it seeks to become a serious player with SME advertisers. "They're a very good distribution channel and we're keen to work with them," says Hunter.