More from Friday

Google is apparently getting kind of desperate to get it's radio advertising program, Google Audio, adopted. They are now offering $2,000 free to anyone who spends $1,000. Tech Crunch reports.

This is but the latest piece of evidence that, while Google may be golden in online advertising, its forays into off-line advertising have yet to catch on. Google must be having a real hard time selling those radio ads to have to resort to such a blatant attempt to buy market share. It’s not the first time it’s tried such tactics either. Last year, in an effort to jumpstart Google Checkout, for instance, Google paid $10 for every $30 in sales that merchants directed through its PayPal competitor. I’m not sure how well that went. But last time I checked, PayPal was still around.

Just because Google has cash to burn doesn’t mean it should use that cash to try to buy market share. If it truly has a better way of buying and selling radio ads, advertisers and radio stations will quickly figure that out on their own. It is not a good sign when Google has to resort to paying customers to try out a new product.

And for some bizarre reason Google is placing ads for rehab centers and drug addiction treatment on this blog. There is only one mention of drugs, which is yesterdays post about Count Bismarck's OD. So that is odd.

My wife just called me having seen a commercial for a drug for restless leg syndrome, that mentioned side effects including the urge to gamble or have sex. So I looked it up and there it is. At least it doesn't make your arms turn purple and fall off, or cause instant death like some other medications we see advertised.

And, from Valleywag, Jason Calacanis finally says something that makes sense!

An interesting chart from the WSJ about P/E and dividend yields.