Rumors circulating on the Web indicate that Google, extending its mighty reach into print, is about to embark on a pilot project that would enable users to place targeted advertising in Chicago-area newspapers. The project, reportedly called Google Publication Ads, will "enable ... you to place ads in print publications ... [and] use target demographics, circulation details or keywords to create a list of relevant publications," according to a statement on the test program's login page. Some Web surfers, posting on blogs, have called Google's test poorly conceived. However, this probably is not Google's first foray into print advertising. Earlier …

Handy-dandy roll-up digital displays were the stuff of commonplace life in the Tom Cruise film "Minority Report," but the sci-fi movie was set in the year 2054. In 2005, such stuff-'em-in-your-pocket displays remain the stuff of high-tech dreams. However, there's increasing evidence we won't need to wait until mid-century before the real deal arrives at local Circuit City stores. A story in the San Francisco Chronicle details the considerable progress that's been made by a number of U.S. and British companies to bring plastic and paper displays to the mass market. For example, Gyricon, a Xerox subsidiary, has already …

The last time ubiquitous TV personality Regis Philbin was called on to host a nighttime program for ABC, the show was "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," and ABC was a hobbled network. "Millionaire" instantly became a huge hit for ABC and ran in prime time for a long while--too long, some observers think --before moving into syndication (with Meredith Vieira as host). Now ABC has called on Philbin yet again, this time to host a fresh incarnation of "This Is Your Life," a show that premiered on TV in the early '50s. The difference is that ABC's lineup …

Folio: magazine's Web site reports that Playboy Enterprises has purchased an "online distribution company" called ICS for $12 million. The acquisition, says Playboy PR vice president Jay Nesheim, is intended to "expand online revenues through bolt-on acquisitions in that space." Folio: also notes that Playboy magazine is off in net revenues for the nine months ending September 30. Revenues this year were $67.5 million compared to $74.8 million the same period a year ago. The men's magazine on which the company was founded by Hugh Hefner, who remains in charge, has been struggling for years and, for the most part, …

"Prison Break," a new Fox television drama widely praised by critics and seemingly appreciated by viewers (albeit not yet enough of them), is getting a break of its own: The network is slipping reruns into a key time slot for November sweeps. But to do so, it has temporarily yanked two other shows from its 8:00 Monday schedule. Both "Arrested Development" and "Kitchen Confidential" will be shelved for the month. The half-hour shows have been critics' darlings, but they have not yielded big ratings numbers for Fox.

Iconic showbiz columnist Army Archerd, who wrote for his industry-leading trade from 1953 until earlier this year, is back. He's launched a blog on the Variety.com site. It is supported by banner advertising.

In its latest study on sexual content on American television, the Kaiser Family Foundation yesterday reported that the number of sex-related scenes has risen sharply since 1998. Some 70 percent of the shows include some sexual content, according to Kaiser. The study (which excluded news, sports, and children's TV) noted that, on average, there are five sexual scenes televised every hour, compared to just 3.2 seven years ago. Reacting to the study, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who spoke at the Kaiser event yesterday, said, "We need to make clear that the free use of the public airwaves continues to come …

Former Financial Times editor Andrew Gowers, who left the paper under murky circumstances last week, yesterday attacked the entire medium, saying, "Working in print, pure and simple, is the early 21st Century equivalent of running a record company and specializing in vinyl." Writing in the London Evening Standard (is there more than a bit of irony in that?), Gowers declared that the "future lies with the Internet, and those newspapers that survive will be those that produce truly original content and learn fastest how to translate it into the all-encompassing, all-singing, all-dancing new medium of the Web."

The New York Times has disclosed that about 135,000 Net surfers have signed up for its online TimesSelect program, which requires payment in order to read the paper's lineup of all-star columnists. Subscribers to TimesSelect pay either a $7.95 monthly fee or a $49.95 annual fee, which, in addition to the columnists (Maureen Dowd, Tom Friedman, others), permits access to certain bonus material. TimesSelect, which is being carefully watched throughout the newspaper industry, began two months ago. The paper also said yesterday that more than 90 percent of those who had signed up for a 14-day free trial have converted …

According to a report by WWD.com's Jeff Bercovici, who follows the magazine business, the TV Guide Magazine Group is already having doubts about its Inside TV spinoff, which was launched in April. Intended as a celebrity magazine targeted at young, mostly female, viewers, WWD.com says the magazine is selling fewer than 200,000 copies per issue. As a result, a celeb-mag consultant has been brought in to tweak the book, with a revamp expected to hit newsstands in about a month. Insiders say to look for a greater emphasis on fashion, shopping, and relationships, with fewer pages devoted to gossip. TV …