Google Adds B2B Sites to AdSense

Google has added VNU Business Media’s network of vertically focused business-to-business sites to its AdSense program.

Google will serve targeted AdWords text ads on the Web sites of all VNU’s U.S. and European business-to-business (B-to-B) publications. VNU’s U.S. brands include Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, National Jeweler, Progressive Grocer, and Successful Meetings. European titles include Computing, Accountancy Age, Computable, and IT Week.

“AdSense works really well with specialized content. The more specialized the content, the more relevant the advertising,” said David Hirsch, director of business-to-business in Google’s vertical markets group. “My group has spent a tremendous amount of time building relationships with marketers that cover the taxonomy of B-to-B, so we have a depth of advertisers to provide relevant ads to match that content.”

Hirsch said Google is seeing a trend toward B-to-B marketers with non-transactional goals advertising with AdWords. Instead of the expected categories of travel and retail, Google is seeing more advertisers from B-to-B categories like manufacturing, business services, technology and healthcare.

“Business marketers have different goals than consumers. It’s less about clicks and more about lead generation and awareness. We have tremendous search volume around business-to-business, as well as publisher partners like VNU,” Hirsch said.

The deal is the first major joint U.S.-European Web partnership for New York- and Netherlands-based VNU. In addition to its many publications, VNU owns marketing information provider ACNielsen and media measurement firm Nielsen Media Research. The company employs 36,000 people in more than 100 countries.

Much of the AdSense program is made up of smaller publishers who sign up and manage the ads that appear on their site through automated procedures on Google’s site. Google also offers a premium service for high-volume publishers, whose sites receive more than 5 million search queries or 20 million content page views a month. Premium partners are assigned an account manager for a hands-on approach, and advanced filtering and optimization options are available. Premium AdSense publishers include Amazon.com, Disney Online, The New York Times and The Weather Channel.