Google to run banner ads

Search engine giant Google plans for the first time to sell ads that include images - a surprise reversal for a company that has won regard for its pioneering use of text-only marketing pitches and for keeping its homepage religiously free of banner advertising.

A posting on the company's website describes the new program, which will allow customers to place image, or banner, ads on third-party websites that participate in its Adsense program. Adsense promises to place ads on web pages that are relevant to a marketer's message, based on an analysis of the page's content.

The posting noted that Google will not put image ads on its own site for now, but said it looks "forward to offering more image ad distribution options in the future".

The image ad program launched yesterday in a beta version, said Tim Armstrong, Google's vice president of advertising sales. He said the decision to wade into banners came after nine months of interviews with web surfers, publishers and advertisers, and was based on what he called Google's core mission.

Evan Hansen writes for News.com