Google will test selling ads for 50 newspapers

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc., owner of the most-used Internet search engine, will test selling advertising for 50 newspapers starting this week, part of the company's latest effort to reach beyond the Web.

Google will take bids for advertising space in newspapers owned by The New York Times Co., including The Boston Globe, Washington Post Co., Gannett Co., and Tribune Co., Mike Mayzel, a spokesman for Mountain View, Calif. -based Google, said Sunday.

Advertisers' offers for available space will be relayed to publishers, who will accept or reject them. The trial is an effort by Google chief executive Eric Schmidt to tap off-line ad markets such as print and radio and comes as newspapers face declining sales and readership.

Google will start offering newspaper space to about 100 of its advertisers this week in a test that will last for three months. Companies that may bid on ad space include DVD rental company Netflix Inc., health insurer EHealth Inc., and car rental company Avis Budget Group Inc.

Newspaper ads sold through the process will start appearing within the next two weeks , Mayzel said.

Google's software may boost newspaper revenue at first, said Louis Ureneck, head of Boston University's journalism department . Over time, newspaper advertising rates may decline as prices for ads sold by salespeople converge with prices on Google, he said.