• NY Times, Tuesday, December 20, 2005 11:45 AM

Google's anticipated new deal with AOL is expected to open new vistas for advertisers who want to place their logos and brand-oriented graphics on Google's search engine, something they were not previously allowed to do. Also, the opportunity will not be limited to advertisers from AOL , whose talks with Google prompted the change in policy, according to two unidentified executives close to the companies' negotiations. The executives said that at AOL's request, Google would begin to test various forms of graphical ads, and that it would make the same formats available to other advertisers. Graphical advertisements, like the common rectangular ads known as banners, have been a feature of most commercial Internet sites for a decade. However, one of Google's trademarks was that it eschewed graphical ads in favor of small text advertisements linked to the topics for which users search. One format reportedly being discussed is a box, which may include a photograph and a logo that would appear on the main search results pages toward the bottom of the advertisements in the right-hand column.

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