Google shut down its print efforts on Tuesday January 20th. 

In an announcement made on Inaugeration Day on their company blog, Spencer Spinnell, Director of Google Print Ads, said Google was moving resources away from the print poject to focus on efforts which will "delight millions of users." (Google could not figure out how to sell into newspapers, but they do know how to bury news.)

It is not a huge surprise that Google shut down their print program, they never really figured out how to plug print inventory into their enormously successful AdWords program. And their attempts to automate the print buying process were clunky and, by Google's standards, unsuccessful. 

What is more concerning than their decision to abandon the project is the subtext of their message, which appears to be- print isn't worth it. The same newspaper publishers who so enthusiastically endorsed Google's attempts to automate print should be screaming right now. They should be saying - "just because Google built a system few wanted to use, doesn't mean print can't work. The medium has issues, but Google is stopping print because their system didn't generate interest and their stock price is down 50%, not because they don't want a piece of the $55 billion plus annual print ad spend, which is still second only to network TV." But I have not heard any newspaper publishers come out and say anything close to that and I doubt I will.