Google and WPP Marketing Research Award Program Advances into Second Round of Grants

WPP [NASDAQ: WPPGY] and Google [NASDAQ: GOOG] have announced that their jointly funded award program, which supports research into how online media influences consumer behavior, attitudes and decision making, has recognized 11 projects for its second round of grants.

In 2009, WPP and Google had agreed to dedicate up to $4.6 million over three years to fund the Google and WPP Marketing Research Awards Program. The program's goal is to help some of the finest minds from academia to collaborate with the marketing community and client partners of both WPP and Google on outstanding research designs. For a full listing of first round studies and to learn more about program, visit http://research.google.com/university/marketingresearchawards/FAQ.html.

The program is overseen by Professor John Quelch, senior associate dean of Harvard Business School and a non-executive director of WPP; Dr. Hal Varian, Google's Chief Economist; and Professor Glen Urban, former dean of the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This committee made final decisions on the second-round proposals to be funded and will guide the project implementation process for the winning submissions.

The researchers and affiliated academic institutions participating in this second round of supported projects are:

• Michael Smith and Rahul Telang, Carnegie Mellon: Channels and Conflict: Efficient Marketing Strategies for Internet Digital Distribution Channels.
• Chrysanthos Dellarocas, Boston University and William Rand, University of Maryland: Media, Aggregators and the Link Economy: An Analytical and Empirical Examination of the Future of Content.
• Anita Elberse, Harvard University and Kenneth Wilbur, Duke University: What Is the Right Mix Between Offline and Online Advertising? A Study of the Entertainment Industry.
• Arun Sundararajan, NYU and Gal Oestreicher-Singer, Tel Aviv University: The Breadth of Contagion of the Oprah Effect: Measuring the Impact of Offline Media Events on Online Sales.
• Yakov Bart, Miklos Sarvary, Andrew Stephen, INSEAD: Consumer Responses to Mobile Location-Based Advertising.
• V Kumar, Vikram Bhaskaran and Rohan Mirchandani, Georgia State University: Measuring the Total Value of a Customer through Own Purchases and Word of Mouth Referrals: A Field Study in India.
• Alan Montgomery and Kinshuk Jerath, Carnegie Mellon: Predicting Purchase Conversion from Keyword Search Using Associative Networks.
• Shawndra Hill, University of Pennsylvania and Anand Venkataraman, 33Across: Collective Inference for Social Network-Based Online Advertising.
• Anindya Ghose, NYU: Modeling the Dynamics of Consumer Behavior in Mobile Advertising and Mobile Social Networks.
• Jane Raymond, Bangor University: The Importance of Relevance: Cognitive Science Research on Distraction by Advertisement on the Internet.
• Koen Pauwels, Dartmouth, Oliver Rutz, Yale, Shuba Srinivasan, Boston University and Randolph Bucklin, UCLA: Are Audience-Based Online Metrics Leading Indicators of Brand Performance?

An event to highlight the new round projects is being planned for November. Please go to http://research.google.com/university/marketingresearchawards/ for more information.

About Google Inc.

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.google.com.

About WPP

WPP is the world’s largest communications services group. Through its operating companies, the Group provides a comprehensive range of advertising and marketing services including advertising; media investment management; consumer insight; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing and specialist communications. The company employs over 138,000 people (including associates) in 2,400 offices in 107 countries. For more information, visit www.wpp.com.