Google Confirms Testing Ads In Sun-Times Newspaper

Google Inc. on Tuesday confirmed that its running ads from its advertisers in the Chicago Sun-Times, the first newspaper to participate in the search engine's test of offline advertising.

The Mountain View, Calif., search engine has run ads in magazines as part of the test that started late last year. The magazines include Maximum PC, Budget Living and PC Magazine.

The ads in the Sun-Times are similar to Google's text-based AdWords advertising found on search results. The ads include the words "Ads by Google," at the top, and have run in the sports and business sections.

Google declined to discuss details of the test or the advertising, but AdAge.com reported that Google was filling unsold space that the newspaper would have normally used for in-house ads. Google has run about 15 ads so far, including for ticket brokers, White Sox apparel and Chicago Bears memorabilia, AdAge.com said.

Google makes the majority of its profits through contextual search advertising, which is the placement of sponsored links in search results; and through the placement of ads on Web sites that are network partners.In the third quarter, Google reported more than a six-fold increase in net income to $381.2 million from $52 million during the same period a year ago. Revenues rose 96 percent to $1.58 billion.

Google apparently is testing the possibility of expanding its advertising network to the offline world. Beyond saying that advertisers have reacted favorably to the test, the search engine has declined to discuss specifics.

"We're looking at developing new ways to provide effective, useful advertising for our advertisers, and this test is part of that continuing effort," a spokesman said.