It was just last week that we reported Google was shutting down a number of their underperforming products. Now it's Google's Print Ads which have seen the chopping block.

Google have announced that they will be closing down their Print Ads product on 31st March, with no new ads being accepted after February 28th.

Google's Print Ads program is a revenue stream within Google AdWords which allows advertisers to create print ads online which can appear in a variety of newspapers.

According to Google, the Print Ads program has not created the impact that they had hoped for. Spencer Spinnell, Director of Google Print Ads said that "while we hoped that Print Ads would create a new revenue stream for newspapers and produce more relevant advertising for consumers, the product has not created the impact that we - or our partners - wanted."

The decision affects about 800 U.S. newspapers who participated in the program. However, Google has vowed not to give up on newspaper companies all together. "We will continue to devote a team of people to look at how we can help newspaper companies". I would assume that this would be achieved by going back to doing what Google does best- driving more traffic to the newspapers websites and helping them sell more Internet ads.

I wonder however if this is a lost cause. Newspapers seem to be very "old-school" these days. With on-the-spot reporting of news through micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, there hardly seems to be the need to flick through the daily newspaper whether it is in print or online.

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