Inc Magazine published an interesting article about how small businesses are using Google TV Ads to launch low budget advertising campaigns on national cable channels and the satellite service Dish Network.

Google TV Ads works just like Adwords, except that instead of bidding on search terms, you bid on airtime.  Advertisers can enter into Google TV Ads their desired audience and using data from Nielsen and other sources and then suggests shows, times, and channels that mach your targeted audience. 

As an example, the article uses BBQGuys.com who paid for a program with a weekly audience of 30,000, a $7 CPM would cost roughly $210.  Mike Hackley, founder of BBQGuys.com found he was able to reach 1.5 million to 2 million viewers for about $3,000 a week. 

The key to Google TV Ads is the real time data it provides to its users.  Using the data derived from the set-top boxes of 4 million Dish Network subscribers, Google calculates how many people watch each commercial.  It also tracks how long viewers are watching the ad, if viewers watch less than five seconds of the ad, advertisers aren’t charged.

The article also features reverse mortgage lender Golden Gateway.  The Oakland, CA based reverse mortgage lender has been using Google TV ads to purchase time on stations like Fox News and the Hallmark channel.

Bob Purcell, chief marketing officer of Golden Gateway Financial, said that its commercials perform very well on religious-themed programs, which he hadn’t considered until using Google’s tools.  "One of the good things about Google TV is that it really allows you to test," says Purcell. "We were able to fairly quickly ascertain which days and times worked best for us."

So even if your company doesn’t have the money to hire a celebrity spokesperson for a media campaign, their are other options out there to help you promote your business. 

Run Cheap TV Commercials with Google TV Ads