Caroline McCarthy does a wonderful job detailing the overall trend at tonight’s New York Advertising Meetup at Googleplex East: “Old media’s not dead, it just has to be Google-ized.” Over the course of an hour, Google executives from radio, print, search and agency relations discussed (read: pitched) their online and offline products to the Madison Avenue audience.

Granted the event was hosted on their turf, Google did have a right to pitch their products and talk up why a YouTube campaign may return the greatest ROI of all online initiatives. Sure, there were some blanketing statements like the one I just listed, but I couldn’t help think about spaces outside the dominant Google; of things that Google has yet to touch.

What about mobile? Yes, Google makes great mobile applications like Maps, Search and Reader but what about advertising? “None of us know what the [mobile] monetization models could be,” Derek Kuhl, Head of Agency Relations, admitted. In the US, search is king, expected to hit $1.4 billion in revenue by 2012 although three in ten mobile users recall seeing mobile advertising. Ouch.

Above: A pamphlet with a QR Code in the Google logo. Text reads, “Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. - Gore Vidal. ‘I hope it is the same half!’ Print Ads TGIAF at Hemisphere (Google’s NYC cafeteria) 1/31/08″

In the most subtlest of ways, Google introduced a comprehensive (what marketer’s like to call, “integrated”) mobile advertising initiative via a soon-to-be-announced product for Newspaper Print Ads: QR Codes. Already available and widely popular/useful in Japan, QR Codes will work in tandem with Google’s offline advertisements in newspapers. (Wait, I thought print was tanking?) Similar to a bar code on a cereal box, QR Codes are compact enough to store valuable information (think a website address or coupon). For Google, this means taking a text ad that was placed in print, utilize the corresponding QR Code and draw the reader to another destination.

This may seem menial in comparison to Android efforts, but Google’s foray (at least in the US) into mobile advertising via QR Codes changes the dynamic completely. As the sales and engineering teams test the product internally, expect the industry to steadily roll-out awareness programs and updated software for leading smartphones and the iPhone.

P.S. I also asked Kuhl if he or any other panel speakers had any update about Twitter-competitor Jaiku and (I guess) the answer was expected: “I don’t have any updates except that we acquired it.”

Update: Dan Frommer at Silicon Alley Insider points to Google’s Print Ads barcode information website.

Great news today coming out of eMarketer regarding SNS (Social Networking Services) and ad spend. According to the report, Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage, “social network ad spending is expected to grow by 81%, to $2.2 billion in 2008 from $1.2 billion this year” and “spending [in the US] is projected to rise to $1.6 million in 2008, from $920 million in 2007.”

A large portion of the spend is coming from deals between the two largest SNS properties: Microsoft/Facebook and Google/MySpace.

I’d be interested to see what details and best practices are mentioned for targeted ad spend on SNS within the report. Neither I or famed SNS researcher, danah boyd, have seen relevant evidence to track eyeballs into actions.

Working for an ad company can be extremely entertaining. Just imagine the people who were sitting in a room together and came up with the idea to connect women through cookies in order to improve their social lives. Honestly, making a site more social in order to share a branded experience with your friends is not a bad idea. As the New York Times has pointed out, brands are hopping on the social bandwagon.

Pantene’s hair care line, Campbells, Dove, Jockey and other large companies are all creating niche social networks to increase brand awareness and help people communicate in a branded environment. Honestly, there is nothing better then this for a brand. Uber networkers will tell you that hosting a large event where you help others connect will do wonders for your personal brand. The same goes for virtual events and networks. Just ask Mark Zuckerberg how big his personal brand has become.

Are we going to get tired of creative brand experiences? Not anytime soon! Are you going to show up to an event offering free food or drinks brought to you by a given brand? Probably. You will definitely show up if the event helps you connect with others that you have shared interests with. The same thing goes for social networks. If brands can target people with similar interests they will join a branded social network any day.

I honestly think all of this is a great thing: friendly brands that help me connect with other people. Brands are finally becoming more social.

MySpace recently announced that they will be launching an ad network that will enable advertisers to place ads across the social network. Facebook has also launched their own Social Ads system that many are speculating will evolve to a self-serve model similar to Google’s Adwords offering. According to Peter Kafka, MySpace’s new ad network may actually expand across other News Corp sites.

This move by Fox Interactive Media got me thinking. What if other media companies decided to launch their own ad networks? One of Google’s future goals is to automate the majority of the advertising industry. Want to buy a television spot? Go to Google. Want to purchase a radio ad? Try Google. This could pan out if Google is able to negotiate deals with large media companies. That will be extremely challenging though given that large media companies are going to try to protect their assets as much as possible.

Granting access to Google could reduce the amount each company earns from advertising. Instead, each of the media companies could develop their own advertising network. There is only one other solution: a white label ad network. If someone developed a robust ad network that could be used by large media companies, they could undercut the rates that Google is charging to media companies. This is all speculation but it sounds good in theory! Do you think other media companies will follow behind Fox Interactive Media and launch their own ad networks?