Before it scrapped its scheme for selling newspaper adverts, Google was approached by a British-based online company, Media Equals, with an offer to take over the project.
Like Google, MediaEquals has developed an automated system for bidding on advertising space in newspapers and magazines. MediaEquals likens its platform, developed during the past three years, to an online stock market for buying and selling ads distributed off-line.
In a statement on its websiteM, MediaEquals says: "The fact that Google Print Ads is closing does not mean that technology cannot deliver the efficiencies that the press industry so desperately needs." It adds:
"We have spent the last three years building a true trading platform for the media industry - bespoke, comprehensive and fit for purpose. We recently launched in the UK and have ambitions to take this overseas and in particular the US in the next 12 months.
"Our product is different to Google Print Ads and provides exactly the efficiencies the press industry needs in this increasingly challenging environment."
MediaEquals also plans to use its technology to sell ads on outdoor billboards and radio, two forms of media that Google is still pursuing. (Via Washington Times/AP)
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