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Anyone in the U.S. who has linked their Analytics and AdWords accounts "can now see how their campaign metrics for impressions, ad plays, markets, and CPM correlate with their website traffic data . . . such as conversions, revenue, and transactions," according to Christian Yee.

On the Google Analytics Blog, he then underscored the main point: "Customers can see if their audio campaigns resulted in greater amounts of traffic and conversions on a regional basis."

Such patterns are presumably pretty common; Google, professed dedication to openness notwithstanding, wouldn’t do something that would cause all Audio Ads users to abandon the program.

We expect to see a slight increase in the use of Google Audio Ads, then, with more people joining in as word spreads and time goes by.

Pick a day – either February 21st, 22nd, or 23rd (1 PM EST is the only option on all three) – and inform Google of your choice by 3:00 this Thursday.  Then, "Join us for tips on how to set up an effective radio campaign and optimization ideas," invites "Heather" on the Inside AdWords blog.

There should be some promotional campaign credit-giving, as well, and she later continues, "A few members of the Audio Ads product team will also join us as guest speakers, offering ways to help you more easily track the impact of your Audio Ads campaigns." 

Getting Googlers to hold your hand in this way could be a pretty interesting experience.  Perhaps profitable, as well.  At the same time, we don’t want to push you into wasting an afternoon (or morning, if you’re on the West Coast), so here’s a sort of rebuttal from Mark Ramsey.

After spending a bit of time with Audio Ads, he asked, "Is this the new face of radio?  Undifferentiated and anonymous brands commoditizing airtime in bundles cheap enough to be affordable and small enough to be ineffective?"  We’re not suggesting that you be mean, but perhaps somebody could run that by a Googler.

This includes “almost 700 Clear Channel AM/FM stations,” according to a post on the Inside AdWords blog.  The post then continues, “Our entire network averages 12 stations per market in each of the top 50 markets and covers every major station format.  Advertisers will also have access to a guaranteed amount of premium inventory across these stations in all prime dayparts and in ‘Top 10’ stations in all of the top 25 U.S. markets.”

Wow.  Everyone who’s aware of Clear Channel’s existence probably knows about its gigantic reach, yet it’s still a little startling to see those numbers in connection with Google.  They make the search giant look more omnipresent than usual, and the blog post even includes a “see you when you’re sleeping” bit about reaching customers when they’re not online.

Also, this isn’t the only tie Google has formed with Clear Channel – less than a month ago, a development took place between Google Apps and a Clear Channel television station.

Audio Ads aren’t necessarily a bad thing, though; at the very least, they’re interesting.  Furthermore, advertisers should approve, and Google’s shareholders are likely to greet the news with wide smiles.

Listen Up: Google Audio Ads

Google’s oft-stated desire to organize the world’s information meshes well with Clear Channel, which has managed to consolidate much of the US radio landscape under one umbrella. Together, they may make audio advertising for AdWords customers more appealing than people realize.

On the Google Consumer Packaged Goods blog, the company’s Corrine Perri provided an update on Google Audio Ads. She referenced their agreement with Clear Channel, one that provides a “portion of guaranteed, premium 30-second advertising inventory on 675 Clear Channel AM & FM stations.”

Clear Channel stations are all over the country. People spend a lot of time in their cars, where they are likely tuned in to one of those stations for a period of time. Perri provided some numbers that make Google’s Audio Ads program a more interesting proposition:

These Clear Channel Radio stations, when combined with our existing radio station partners, give our advertisers access to radio inventory on over 1600 top-rated radio stations throughout the country, with “Top 10″ stations in 24 of the top 25 U.S. markets and coverage of over 99% of the U.S. population aged 12 and older (meaning 99% of people 12+ can tune in an hear one of our stations; Source: ACT1 / Arbitron).

Various options for targeting these ads, like location, day and time, demographics, and station type, make the product one a marketer should at least consider when building a campaign.