Time Warner's agreement to sell a 5 percent stake in AOL to Google for $1 billion may well do more than create an online advertising juggernaut: the agreement also positions AOL and Google to start
selling TV ads. At least that's what Time Warner Chief Executive Richard Parsons told staff in a memo that surfaced Wednesday in the
Financial Times. "With this agreement, AOL's sales force
will now be able to sell all types of online advertising--including paid search--and we'll explore expanding the partnership into selling television and print advertising," Parsons wrote to staff.
Google currently is piloting a program to sell print ads in a handful of magazines and newspapers, but company executives say Google hasn't yet expanded into television ads.
-- Wendy Davis