Google Paying Plenty For Pin Permits
Google Maps advertising adventure costs $30,000 in permits
Sig Naah
The weight of a Google recommendation was made literal with these Google Maps trophies distributed around San Francisco.
A total of 26 "pins" weighing 800 pounds each placed in front of San Francisco businesses by Google to advertise its Google Maps service will be pulled on August 5th if the company doesn't secure a new permit.
The Mountain View-based company, which once loathed advertising but is now embracing it with gusto, placed the heavy sculptures in on sidewalks to point out shops recommended by celebrities.
For each location, the company is paying $55 a day in permit fees, for a total of $30,000 across the city for the run of the campaign.
Locations included trendy San Francisco favorites like Tartine, Delfina and the Bi-Rite Creamery, and were chosen by local notables including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Alice Waters of Chez Panisse.
As of August 5th, however, they'll have to go unless a new permit is secured according to the Department of Public Works.
Even Google admits that the sculptures don't quite qualify as public art, and a DPW employee declined to comment on the quality of design, leaving San Franciscans to improve upon them as they saw fit.
Besides spending more on advertising, Google is also spending more on lobbying government agencies -- in the last three months, the company has spent $950,000 to woo legislators, up nearly 30 percent from the same period last year.
Photo by Sig Naah.
Jackson West doesn't understand how anybody wouldn't love to be "honored" with a half-ton impediment to pedestrian traffic.
Copyright NBC Owned Television Stations
Posted Thursday, Jul 23, 2009 - 1:39 PM PST
