Google’s print adverting program is designed to make newspaper print advertising available to hundreds of thousands of Google advertisers. It is said to create new revenue opportunities for publishers.

The program dates from November 2006 when a test that included 50 newspapers and a small group of advertisers was set up. “Since then the program has grown to more than 225 newspapers representing 32 of the top 35 DMAs and a combined circulation of almost 30 million. In addition, Google Print Ads is now available to hundreds of thousands of United States-based advertisers who currently have a Google AdWords account.”

Google Print Ads is designed to allow advertising agencies and advertisers of all sizes to plan and buy traditional newspaper media in both national and local newspapers within a single, web-enabled interface. The platform enables marketers to reach new audiences in ways that are relevant for newspaper readers and cost-efficient for advertisers and publishers. “And newspaper publishers can increase their bottom line by adding new customers from Google’s network of advertisers, many of whom are new to newspaper advertising. Newspaper publishers will continue to work directly with their loyal base of advertising customers. ”

Todd Haskell, vice president of business development, advertising at The New York Times, says, “We are always looking to extend our editorial products to new advertisers while also driving additional revenue to our business. Google Print Ads has brought in new advertisers who were either too small to consider advertising in a national newspaper or who hadn’t tried print advertising because their business was largely online. And Google Print Ads gives us the flexibility and control to set our own pricing, so there is never a conflict.”

Eric Schmidt, Google CEO says, “Over the past months, we have worked closely with our newspaper partners to design our Print Ads program to meet their needs and the needs of marketers. Newspapers are an important source of information and a powerful communication tool. With Google Print Ads we will bring more advertisers to newspapers which will ultimately benefit readers, publishers and advertisers.”

Google’s share price hit a new high on Friday, reflecting the company’s push into new ways for advertisers to reach its massive online audience.

Yahoo News reports, “Google’s shares peaked at $560.79 before falling back to finish at $560.10, up $7.27, or 1.3 percent. The rally eclipsed Google’s previous record high of $558.58 attained in mid-July, just days before the Mountain View-based company disillusioned investors with a second-quarter profit below analyst estimates”.

Google has a market value of almost $175 billion, more than Hewlett-Packard and IBM. The stock has increased six-fold from its IPO price of $85 in August 2004.

The Federal Reserve Bank’s decision to lower short-term interest rates by 0.5 percentage points means Google stands to benefit because it runs the largest advertising network on the Internet.

Despite challenges, Google has been able to widen its lead in search — the activity that triggers the text-based ad links that have become a huge moneymaker for the Mountain View company.

Google now handles 54 percent of all U.S. search requests. Yahoo lags well behind at 20 percent followed by Microsoft at 13 percent.

Google earned $1.9 billion on $7.5 billion in revenue during the first half of this year. That will increase during the second half because of the Christmas/Holidays shopping season.

According to Yahoo News, “Several industry analysts already are forecasting Google shares will soon surpass $600. The stock eclipsed $500 for the first time 10 months ago”.

In conditions of the highest secrecy with NDAs slapped on insiders, the long-awaited GooglePhone is set to enter a crowded marketplace sometime soon after America’s Labor Day.

Thought to be an early prototype of the GooglePhone

It is being described it as “simpler” and not as flashy as Apple’s iPhone. It has the ability to scroll through icons horizontally, making a number of different features easily accessible despite the limited screen space.

Another described it as having three-dimensional, animated buttons on the screen with a small QWERTY keyboard, like a Treo or a BlackBerry, rather than relying on a touch-screen, like the iPhone.

Earlier, Sim Simeonov, a technologist-in-residence at Polaris Venture Partners in Waltham, blogged an entry titled “The Real Google Phone.” He wrote that an “inside source” had described a “BlackBerry-like, slick device,” and that “Google would create distribution partnerships with a number of different mobile carriers, unlike Apple, which is locked into AT&T for five years”.

In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google hopes that several different manufacturers will build the phones and multiple carriers will help distribute them. Google will supply the software and deliver ads to the phones.

Engadget wrote last week that Google’s new operating system for cellphones, could be revealed shortly after Labor Day.

We await developments with interest.

Google recently announced that its revenues were up by 58 percent. For any other company, that would be good news. But this is Google we’re talking about, where only the fantastic will ever be good enough.

Google’s news came only two days after Yahoo announced a quarterly earnings drop, which adds some perspective to the reaction.

The search company’s performance again centred on to strong search advertising sales, in which Google’s revenue reached $3.87bn in the second quarter, up from $2.46bn in the same quarter last year. Net profits hit $925m, up from $721m.

CEO Eric Schmidt, during a meeting with analysts said, “We’ve delivered strong revenue performance, particularly on core Google.com search, and strong cash flow in our seasonally weak quarter. Traffic is stronger at Google.com, both domestically and internationally, with annual traffic growth actually increasing over time.”

Revenues from Google.com alone hit $2.5bn, representing year-on-year growth of 74 percent.

Revenues from AdSense — the ad network for third-party web sites — grew 36 percent over last year, to $1.35bn.

Schmidt continued, “The summer seasonality that we always talk about does appear to be milder than we expected, and we’re improving our ability to monetize searches, as we do every quarter.”

CFO George Reyes commented, “Spain, Italy, and France in particular outperformed in Q2, while Germany, along with the UK, were significant drivers of revenue growth.”

UK revenues were $600m, a 4 percent increase.

Overall, operating income dropped to $1.1bn, and there was a 7.12 percent drop in Google’s stock price in after hours trading.