Google has caused consternation in the media planning and buying community with the launch of its new web audience measurement service. Google's service is intended to help advertisers identify the best places to buy online ads by providing them with data on which web sites their target audiences visit. Google's stated objective is to connect advertisers and publishers and provide them with demographics and usage patterns of target audiences. The pilot service is currently only available to selected players but it is expected to be publicly available shortly.
Simon Fox, 14 July 2008