Google apparently wants to obtain patent protection for the idea of serving contextual ads in RSS feeds, according to documents made public late last week. Google employee Nelson Minar, on Dec. 31,
2003, filed an application for a patent for embedding ads in syndicated content. The application was made public last Thursday (The U.S. Patent and Trade Office publishes applications 18 months after
they're filed, unless the applicant has requested they remain confidential.) Google declined to comment. -- Wendy Davis