Posted by In another step to making itself self-aware, Google announced this week that it has spent the past year working with Publicis on "the sharing of proprietary technical knowledge, as well as insights about advertising and media planning and buying, and involves the exchange of personnel between the two companies," according to a news item from MediaPost titled, Publicis Keeps Friends Close, Frenemies Even Closer, Unveils Google ‘Collaboration’, this past Wednesday.
The announcement came during a press conference with Publics chief Maurice Levy and Google chief Eric Schmidt that took place this past Tuesday.
Google has already made strides into some of the traditional advertising channels (radio, television and print) by testing different business models and creative opportunities. While it might come as a shock to some, it makes perfect sense. As Google continues to grow, the true profits are coming from the Advertising and Marketing opportunities it can offer Brands. With all of this inventory in very different interactive channels, Google needs dynamic advertising with a keen eye on next-generation engagement.
If you think this is all some kind of PR spin, check out the final paragraph of the MediaPost article:
"Google has independently been recruiting Madison Avenue expertise at a rapid clip, hiring hundreds of former agency media planners, buyers and account planning executives to help build out a burgeoning advertising and media services organization. The company maintains that it is not interested in providing traditional agency services, but is making such moves to help agencies and their clients utilizes media more effectively and efficiently. But the blurry nature dividing Google’s capabilities – and market clout – with those of traditional advertising agencies, has led at least one industry chief, WPP‘s Martin Sorrell, to term Google the ad industry’s ‘frenemy.’"
Is this good for the Digital Marketing industry or bad?
Never another podcast episode or article 
I think it’s only bad if we don’t learn to adapt and change to the market environment.
We are all in an industry that is always in flux for one reason or another. Some say the market is in recession in some places and with that comes the axing of jobs at shops locally (Downtown Partners to Shutter Toronto Office) and globally.
Google is always changing how the game is played and I love them for that. I just learn to play along and write my own rules as I go. I don’t think its bad because we can stronger from these changes.
Great insights Duane.
I guess the one area of concern for our industry should be HR. Google’s looking for the best and brightest, and those people reside in the Digital Marketing spaces of these agencies.
I don’t think poaching talent is the answer.
We need to be bringing more and more professionals into this space and we need to be providing the education.
As time passes, I really wonder what kind of “good” marketing can do for us all anyway.
Working during the day for an ad agency that specializes in HR solutions, I agree with that statement totally.
However, we’ve always been understaffed as an industry I think. We are only really starting to feel the effect of it as non-ad agency firms begin to take our key talent away. We need to start working with schools and bring more talent in. The sooner we start this the better. This situation is only going to get worse if there is a slowdown or a recession as key talent will go towards the non-ad agency firms like Google. Then when we are in a upwards swing we’ll be without talent and wondering what happened to us during these turbulent times.
I don’t think only one ad shop can do this, I think we need to join together as an industry and help schools recruit talent into their programs and allow us the chance to meet students and recruit them into our shops. This is all about the good of the industry and not any one ad shop.
Well not so good for anyone still thinking that the 30 second spot rules or as we saw in last weeks Marketing, lots of comment on how tv was still king. But for us digital types it will be good, google is showing that it doesn’t have all the answers and they are willing to engage to learn