• by Mark Simon , April 9, 2007

The world has long been transfixed by Google's boundless expansion into new media channels, from YouTube to Google's print classifieds. But while much has been noted about Google's desire to extend its reach, far less has been said about Google's aims at extending its depth, which it hopes to gain by pushing deeper into advertisers' Web sites.

Consider the last few weeks. Late last month, Google launched a pay-per-action program on its publisher network; a week ago, Google released from beta its conversion-based landing page optimization tool. Both services require that Google place conversion pixels within advertisers' Web sites to see how site visitors behave. That's a big change from only looking at whether a searcher does or does not click on an ad.

Why is the world focused on Google's aims at pushing across channels, while virtually ignoring its push to dig deeper into sites? I think it's partially because the world doesn't realize that they're both a push for a single achievement: not an empire of media, but an empire of data.

Google, after all, is a data business. Search is the company's cash cow, and it's so effective because it offers advertisers pinpointed information on which surfers are most likely to buy, and when they're looking to shop. Both kinds of data are lodged within the keyword and the search, which are the channel's most basic parameters. And that kind of data lets Google charge more for the inventory it sells, as advertisers will happily pay $20 a click if the data suggest that the click will lead to a $100 conversion.

But for Google to sell other media on comparable prices to search clicks, it needs to match search data's quality within non-search networks. That's a lot harder to do: search has keywords, but non-search networks lack such inherent indicators. Getting that kind of granular data will require that Google closely study the ways media consumers behave and engage. And to do that, Google needs to be in more places from which it can gather data. Hence the need to expand.

Gord Hotchkiss covered one half of that phenomenon last week, pointing out that Google's ever-growing media network will allow it to ramp up behavioral targeting efforts. The wider its share of the entire media landscape, the easier it will be for Google to follow media users around and study their behavior, enabling advertisers to reach those users more effectively.

The same is true of the increasing depth of Google's presence. By digging deeper into its advertisers' businesses, Google gains access to key information about who's converting, when and how -- all information that Google can ultimately use to pinpoint what kinds of media convert best, and for which types of marketers.

For another source of information on Google, look to DoubleClick. Google is emerging as a serious contender to buy the ad technology firm which, just last week, announced plans to create an online exchange for selling publisher inventory. If a Google/DoubleClick deal goes through, then Google will have a wealth of information on how advertisers and publishers value ad inventory. Combined with Google's deeper presence within advertisers' Web sites, a DoubleClick ownership will allow Google to compare that valuation with actual customer behavior -- yet another gold mine of targeted information.

In other words, it's not entirely accurate to say that Google's looking to create a media empire. Google's looking to monetize on channels beyond search, which requires that it mine information that lives far, wide -- and deep -- within all media channels. Digging deeper and going broader are simply two sides of the same data mining effort. That effort calls upon Google to gain access to more data by extending its reach.

It's also worth noting that last Wednesday, as the world was busy asking where Google's empire will expand next, Google may have quietly answered the question already. The company announced plans to build two new data centers in South Carolina, the first one alone at a cost of $600 million. That's an entirely fitting way for Google to spend its millions -- as data, always at the heart of Google, is very much a part of the company's future.