Search-engine giant Google will roll out an expanded newspaper ad program in the coming months, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

After two months into a test with 100 advertisers and 66 newspapers, Google executives said that its pilot program has exceeded their expectations, and the top five participating newspapers are getting several bids a week from advertisers, according to the report.

"The volume (of ads sold) is tripling where we thought it would be," said Tom Phillips, director of print ads at Google. "I think we'll have real impact next year" on newspapers' bottom lines, he said. "We open the medium to a whole new class of advertisers."

But newspaper executives and analysts seemed to be more cautious. They said Google has brought in new advertisers, such as small companies outside their distribution areas looking to build more awareness for their products, said the report.

But Google's online ad technology is so new that it remains unclear how much it will help newspapers, they said.

Source: Xinhua