- Shahnaz Mahmud

ORLANDO, FLA. Google plans to release new data on cross-channel measurement this week, said Tim Armstrong, the company's president of advertising and commerce, North America.

Armstrong, who spoke at the American Association of Advertising Agencies 2008 Media Conference and Trade Show in Orlando, Fla., today, emphasized the company's focus on developing data and reassured attendees that Google has no intention of getting into the agency business.

The company is seeking to collaborate with the ad community to "get to the top of the mountain" in this new digital era, Armstrong said. Google is examining how to build certain tools in its dashboard system to assist advertisers in reaching scale.

"In the last year, data has exploded. [With it] we are trying to figure out how to work together ... to make your lives easier so that fragmentation is beneficial," said Armstrong.

Determining where ads are running on a global scale, for example, affects factors like planning, buying, constructing the creative and targeting, he said.

Regarding its cross-channel measurement research, Armstrong pointed to Google's study of how audio ads change consumer behavior. Insight into behavioral patterns is critical in carrying business forward, he said. Understanding connectivity -- how to let consumers interact with advertisers in a meaningful way -- is also important.

Armstrong said digital provides a way for advertisers to "turn their assets on at all times for consumers," and this is positive for the industry. "We refer to what we are doing [for our advertisers] as our asset management model," he said.