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Google amps up AdSense with MTV deal

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
Elinor Mills

Google's agreement to distribute clips from MTV Networks over its AdSense advertising network is expected to be the first syndication deal of its kind, but not the last for the search engine, a Google representative said Monday.

Under the deal, Google will distribute ad-supported clips from MTV's cable networks over Google's targeted advertising network in a test project beginning later this month.

"It's an amped up form of AdSense," Jennifer Feikin, director of video and multimedia search partnerships, told CNET News.com. "We really have high hopes for this test, and we will look to roll the model out to other content providers."

For example, the MTV content, likely to be video clips of three to four minutes in length initially, will be made available--along with advertising--to interested Web sites, which will get a share of the ad revenue, Feikin said.

"It gives advertisers more inventory and a way to monetize video," Feikin said. "For publisher Web sites, it's yet another way they can make sites more attractive to users and earn revenue."

Feikin said the ad revenue would be split three ways--between the publisher site, Google and MTV--but declined to provide any further detail.