what would google do : NOT!

I am not going to read the book on" what would google do" by jeff. the whole concept is crazy. One industry's method of success does not apply to another's (to a large extent). Here is some proof : just in on WSJ

Google Quits Radio-Advertising Business
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Google Inc. is abandoning the business of selling radio advertisements, the second area of traditional advertising the Web giant has exited since the start of the year.

In a blog post, Susan Wojcicki, vice president of product management at Google, said the company was closing the project because it hadn't "had the impact we hoped for." She said that the company would find roles of most of the people affected but that up to 40 people may not find new jobs at Google. The company also put its radio-automation business, which automates radio broadcast programming, up for sale.

The moves demonstrate how Google is continuing to cut costs by backing away from projects most a field from its core search advertising business, which has been sustaining the company during the downturn. In January, Google said it would close down its business of placing ads in newspapers and it has also shut down or stop development on a number of smaller Web services like a virtual world and a search engine for catalogs.

Selling radio ads was one Google's earliest attempts to diversify beyond its search business by selling ads across traditional media as well. With the closure of its print and radio services, Google is primarily fishing for growth in new areas online, such as selling graphical ads on Web pages or ads on mobile phones.

Google started its radio-ad selling business in 2006, with the purchase of dMarc Broadcasting Inc., an online system for advertisers to buy radio airtime. Google paid $102 million in cash for the company and said it would pay up to an additional $1.1 billion over three years if certain performance targets were met. A Google spokesman declined comment on whether additional payments were ever made.

In 2007, Google signed a high-profile deal to sell a guaranteed portion of ad inventory on more than 675 radio stations owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc. But, overall, its radio ad system – designed to mirror Google's successful search advertising business - never really took off. A Google spokesman declined to comment on whether Google owed Clear Channel any money for ending its service.

The retreat raises questions about Google's prospects in selling television ads, the one major area of traditional advertising it is still trying to crack. Google has been adding more air-time into the auction-based system through deals with television networks. The company has acknowledged that the effort hasn't generated any meaningful revenue to date but believes it is promising.

Ms. Wojcicki said in the blog post that Google will continue to invest in its television-advertising business. She added that Google will use the radio-ad technology it has developed to find ways to sell ads against online streaming audio services.