Google strikes deal with Echostar to run TV ads

LONDON - Google has taken its first steps into the television advertising market, worth an estimated $70bn (拢35.4bn) a year, by striking a deal with US satellite TV firm EchoStar.

The two companies have partnered to create an automated system for buying, selling, delivering and measuring the impact of TV ads running on EchoStar's Dish network, which includes 125 channels and has 13.1m subscribers. The first ad trials are expected in May.

Google currently runs pay-per-click web search ads and it is thought that this deal will bring the same system to offline ads, including broadcast and print ads. It will allow advertisers to target far more accurately and get up to date data very quickly on how their ads are performing in the same way advertisers now can online.

The ad buying system will manipulate the two-way signals many Echostar customers have installed in their homes. By using Google's online system, advertisers will be able to locate available time slots, upload video and track viewing.

The system will allow advertisers to target the demographic they want to find, apparently down to the nearest 12 people. However, Google and EchoStar are quick to point out that information on individual viewing habits are not available.

The partnership with EchoStar's Dish network extends Google's current advertising platform to a national TV audience. It launched a trial in San Francisco with Astound Broadband last year, but that deal only covered 25,000 subscribers.

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said: "Our partnership with EchoStar is important for us as we begin to offer a TV advertising platform broadly.

"We think we can add value to this important medium by delivering more relevant ads to viewers, providing better accountability for advertisers and better monetize inventory for TV operators and programmers.

"EchoStar, with its focus on technological innovation and its dedication to improving end user experience, is a great partner for us as we move forward to accomplish these goals."

Charlie Ergen, CEO of EchoStar, said: "Through this groundbreaking partnership with Google, we are confident we will be able to bring increased efficiencies to Dish Network's advertising sales and more accurate, up-to-date viewer measurement with easily accessible online reporting to advertisers."

Google's entry into the US TV ad market sees it go up against established competitors such as Time Warner, Comcast and Cox Communications.

The move follows Google's entry last year into the US radio advertising market with its acquisition of Californian-based dMarc Broadcasting in a $1.2bn deal, which brought radio advertising to Google AdWords advertisers.

The Newport Beach-based group allows advertisers to connect directly to radio stations through its automated ad platform, giving brand owners an easier way to track their campaigns.

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