Google and NBC Universal are teaming up to allow Google to sell advertisements on some of NBC's cable channels such as MSNBC, Oxygen and the Sci Fi network, an Associated Press report said.
The partnership signals Google's desire to sell ads in different places besides next to its search engine, and NBC's efforts to get access to advertisers who currently advertise online through Google but don't place any ads on TV, the report said.
It also illustrates the desire of both companies to capture more data on which TV ads are most popular among viewers, and how to find those people, an ability made possible because of Google's partnership with Dish Network, the second-largest satellite TV service in the US.
The Associated Press report further said through that partnership, Google can measure down to the second what viewers are watching by monitoring data flowing through the DISH Network's set-top boxes.
That gives advertisers a valuable insight into which ads are working, and which ones are flops, and allows them to better target their ad campaigns.
NBC said Google will be allowed to advertise in some of the slots on the CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, Sci Fi and Sleuth and Chiller channels 'in the coming months,' with a potential to expand to other channels in the future.
The companies said they will share all ad revenues from the partnership and are looking at ways to allow Google to sell ads locally, not just at the national level.
NBC Universal is a unit of General Electric.