Google makes some TV ad strides
These might not be as glamorous as network deals, but two partnerships with industry equipment and software manufacturers mean more companies will have access to Google's TV ad system.
Google made two announcements Thursday that further advance the company's goal of becoming a power player in television advertising in addition to the Web.
First, the company announced that Harris, which manufactures communications equipment for business and government clients, will be integrating Google's advertising platform into the products it sells to media and communication companies. This means that Harris clients can use Google's service to manage ad inventory, which Mark Piesenan, director of strategic partnerships for Google TV ads, said will "offer media companies the opportunity to leverage (Google's) automated online marketplace, providing a new and efficient sales option for their ad inventory."
Additionally, Google has partnered with CoreMedia Systems, which makes an advertising analytics product called CoreDirect. The CoreDirect software will now start indexing statistics from Google TV ad campaigns.
These partnerships are on the behind-the-scenes side of things, but Google has been making some network partnerships as well: last month, Google announced it will be selling some TV ad time for NBC Universal, and will also be selling inventory for Dish Network and Bloomberg.