I wonder if Grant McCracken is whistling past the graveyard as he writes about Google versus Madison Avenue: no contest here.

I must admit, I don’t know a lot about advertising and I started reading Grant’s blog as part of my work on the DeStefano Gubernatorial campaign in Connecticut. Grant is in Connecticut and I try to read as many Connecticut based blogs as possible.

Grant writes, “Google doesn't know anything about advertising…Of course, this does not mean that Google won't stride into the advertising business and make an ass of itself.” While I’m not a big fan of Google Adsense, somehow I don’t think Grant’s scenario is all that likely. Google has done a great job of attracting very bright people and if they venture further into the advertising world, I expect they will do the same there.

Also, based on the Wall Street Journal article that Grant cites, it doesn’t appear as if Google is moving into advertisement production, but simply expanding its ad-placement. Some clients will go to Google for ad placements in multiple media. Such a move is likely to help their clients have better coordinated campaigns. It would seem as if this is going to be good for all advertising, or at least the smart players that can help people with better coordinated campaigns.

So, no, I don’t believe Google will stride into the advertising business and make an ass of itself. They’ve demonstrated their ability to attract talent and make good use of it in other ventures that they’ve entered, and I expect they’ll do the same as they expand advertising placement. Likewise, I don’t expect this will be bad for Madison Avenue. I suspect the good players will be forced to be better and the weaker players will be forced aside.