• by George Simpson , Featured Contributor, November 13, 2006

Working with Google's new Olympic ad platform, smaller advertisers are able to create a presence on the world's largest sport stage. Having conquered online, radio, print, TV and outdoor, Google last week turned its attention to event marketing, with an auction-based system that enables advertisers to bid on various components of the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing (633 days to go) and London (2,082 days to go).

"For too long only the big boys with the big budgets got to sponsor the Games," Larry Page might have told "Over the Line," but didn't. "With Google Olympics we even the playing field (so to speak) and enable access for the little people."

Although almost certain to be outbid since the games are two years away, the leading bidder to be top sponsor of the Beijing games is Roxy Palace Online Casino. Other major sponsors at the moment include Breast Gain Plus, Vegas Splendido, Heaven Sent Naturals L-Argicor Penis Enhancement Pills, Lucky Nugget and El Gordo Lottery Sweepstake.

"We are very excited to be part of the Olympics," says Bobby Guccione, general manager of adult.dvdempire.com, which has the lead position to be the official videographer of the London games. "We think that the rub-off effect of sending our adult DVDs in a wrapper featuring the Olympic rings will give us the perception. if not the reality, of being a legitimate adult entertainment business and get us away from the 'porno' stigma."

"This was a very difficult decision for us," International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge might have told "Over the Line" if he were so inclined. "But at the end of the day, the Olympics are not about sports, but about marketing and money. The incremental income from Google will help fund countless travel boondoggles, meaningless reports on performance enhancing drugs and denials of judge tampering."

Google Olympics has over 2,500 bidding categories where sponsors can win display rights on ID badge necklaces, finish line tapes, the hairy backs of boxers, the forearms of discus throwers, toilet paper, gift bags for athletes and IOC officials, pole vault and high jump bars, paper plates on the media buffet--not to mention 162,000 products on which firms can make claims such as "the official anabolic steroid of the 2008 Games."

Asked if the new Google system might run the risk of over-commercializing the Games, Dr. Jonathan Derhamnne, a professor of advertising and marketing at San Francisco State University at Haight Ashbury, told "Over the Line," "I'm having my students write a position on this; can I call you back with a quote after I read their papers?"