Google to shutter radio ad business

SAN FRANCISCO: Google has failed in another attempt to diversify its advertising business from the Internet to old media.

Less than a month after scrapping its division that sold advertisements to newspapers, the Internet search giant announced Thursday that it planned to stop selling advertisements for broadcast radio at the end of May and focus on selling advertisements for streaming audio feeds on the Internet.

The company said the move could lead to the loss of some 40 jobs from its total staff of 20,000.

The move was seen as part of Google's attempts to control costs as a cutback in advertising cramps its growth.

Google entered the radio ad business in 2006, when it paid $102 million in cash for DMarc, a software company whose products helped companies place ads on radio stations.