Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Goodbye dMarc: Google Sells Radio Automation Assets

Google's foray into the radio automation market has finally ended this morning, as San Francisco-based WideOrbit said it has acquired Google Radio Automation and related products. No financial details of the asset sale were disclosed. The sale ends Google's ill-fated foray into radio ads, which it began in January of 2006 with the acquisition of Newport Beach-based dMarc Broadcasting. At that time, Google paid $102M in cash--with up to an astounding $1.1 billion in contingent payments--for dMarc's radio advertising automation technology, which allowed radio advertisers to buy airtime in a bidding process very similar to Google's AdWords program. The acquisition had bolstered Google's presence in Southern California, and resulted in an office in Irvine, where Google continues to employ engineers today. Google shut its radio efforts in February, and had been looking for a buyer for the assets.

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