SAN FRANCISCO - GOOGLE said on Thursday it is getting out of the broadcast radio advertising business in a move that could result in the Internet powerhouse shedding about 40 workers.

The announcement comes as Google abandons a two-year-old programme intended to put the California firm's online expertise to work auctioning off space on newspaper pages to bargain-seeking advertisers.

Google launched services in 2006 to target broadcast radio advertising and automate programming.

'While we've devoted substantial resources to developing these products and learned a lot along the way, we haven't had the impact we hoped for,' Google vice-president of product management Susan Wojcicki wrote in an online post.

'So, we have decided to exit the broadcast radio business and focus our efforts in online streaming audio.' Google plans to sell its Radio Automation business, and terminate its Adsense for Audio and Audio Ads services on May 31.

'We have always accepted that if you take risks not all of them will pay off,' Ms Wojcicki wrote. 'Deciding to close products is never easy.' Google is exploring the potential of providing advertising for Internet radio and other online audio offerings. The firm said it will continue to invest in its growing television advertising business.

'At Google we've never shied away from high-risk, high-reward projects,' Ms Wojcicki wrote.

'We believe that making big bets is not only in the best interests of our users and partners, but also important for our long term success.' Google said it expects that all but 40 workers in its discontinued broadcast radio units will be placed in other jobs at the company.

'We regret the impact these plans will have on the Googlers working on these projects,' Ms Wojcicki wrote.

'We hope to find other roles for the majority of the people concerned and will work to make that happen over the next couple of months.' This month, Google is halting a Print Ads programme it launched with 50 newspaper partners in November 2006.

'While we hoped that Print Ads would create a new revenue stream for newspapers and produce more relevant advertising for consumers, the product has not created the impact that we, or our partners, wanted,' Google Print Ads director Spencer Spinnell said when the decision was announced last month.

Google has been cutting costs in the face of a struggling economy that has slowed even the online advertising king's money-making machine.

Mr Spinnell said Google still has teams working with newspaper publishers to find ways for them to earn cash by using AdSense, YouTube, Google Maps, and other online services or tools. -- AFP