These days, Google seems to be everywhere. They are attempting to take on the mobile phone industry with their “Android” mobile operating system, and they’ve even begun dabbling in radio and television advertising of web-based businesses. But so far, the big G has mostly stayed out of the entertainment business — that is, until now.
The New York Times is reporting that Google has signed an agreement with Seth McFarlane, the creator of Fox’s wildly popular ‘Family Guy’ animated television series. According to the Times, Google will fund and distribute a new original animated series online called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy.”
The series will be distributed to thousands of targeted web sites online, and monetized with Google’s Adsense contextual advertising. The ads will be distributed via video “preroll” commercials, and the sites chosen to receive the new series will be a highly targeted based on the demographics of McFarlane’s other popular animations: Family Guy and American Dad.
The Times article also notes that McFarlane is working directly with advertisers to create original ad spots that will run during the episodes. So far, Google will not reveal who the major advertisers are for the project, only saying that they are among the largest Adsense advertisers online.
Reportedly, McFarlane will receive a straight percentage of the ad revenue generated from the new series, though no exact figures have been released from either Google or the Family Guy production team.
Unlike McFarlane’s Fox network programs, the online cartoon series will consist of “micro episodes,” said to be approximately 2 minutes each. McFarlane has compared the short animations to “animated versions of the one frame cartoons you might see in the New Yorker, only edgier.”
But diehard Family Guy fans should not get their hopes up of seeing any familiar characters in the new series. McFarlane’s contractual obligations with Fox make it unlikely we’ll be seeing Stewie, Brian, Peter or Quagmire from the Family Guy series.
For Google, the new series represents a dramatic move in a new direction for the company: content creation. So far, Google has profited from monetizing other people’s content online with their Adsense contextual advertising, but the company has not ventured into creating their own online entertainment. Experts believe the deal with Seth McFarlane represents a first tentative step by Google into the entertainment industry.
More and more, the computer is becoming the source of news, entertainment and educational programming — Google is wise to jump on the bandwagon now, before the major broadcast networks have a chance to completely monopolize online entertainment.
