Google's TV ad program now live
Advertisers now can use Google TV Ads to, well, place ads on TV, Google said Wednesday. The service is out of its invitation-only beta program that began in June, the company said on its AdWords blog.
No doubt this service will get more interesting when the glorious future of integrated video and Internet access arrives, but for now, it just means Google can feed ads to several dozen TV channels nationwide.
As with Google's AdWords service for placing ads on its Internet search page, advertisers bid for placement. A tool shows estimated costs to run a particular campaign, letting people increase or decrease the bid before they actually place them. Advertisers are only charged if the ads run, and a report afterward shows where they did.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
