Google Chrome…Now On Your TV

Google has taken the unprecedented step of turning to television to try and boost its unsuccessful Chrome browser.

Watch your TV ads carefully and you might well just see one advertising Chrome, Google’s entry into the browser wars. The company is airing a 30-second spot on networks, a piece of stop-motion animation that might, perhaps, be a little too subtle.

It doesn’t have a voiceover, doesn’t even mention that the ad is for a web browser, and only shows the Google logo right at the end. In it a tray of building blocks is rearranged to resemble a browser window, as if to say, yes, using Chrome is child’s play.

The clip was originally created for YouTube by Google Japan, but as an entry on the Google blog states:

"After releasing this video on the web, we got lots of positive feedback and thoughtful comments. We designed a Google TV Ads campaign which we hope will raise awareness of our browser … we’re excited to see how this test goes and what impact television might have on creating more awareness of Google Chrome."

But most people don’t seem too thrilled with the software itself. Although widely heralded on its release, it’s only managed a 1.4% market penetration, compared to 66% of Internet Explorer and 22% for Firefox.

However, there’s a little more going on with this ad than meets the eye. It’s a way to measure the effectiveness of the TV Ads system, a company arms under which Google becomes a broker, selling ad time on the networks. If the ad works, the people might start taking both it and Google TV Ads a bit more seriously.