Google becomes ad seller for DirecTV

DirecTV Wednesday announced that Google will become the advertising sales representative for "a broad selection of advertising inventory on several cable networks" that the satellite TV company carries. It is the second major satellite partnership Google TV Ads has established.

Google's TV Ads branch of AdWords has existed for more than three years, giving businesses the opportunity to purchase blocks of airtime for advertising across a handful of stations on Dish Network and through several regional cable carriers. In 2009, NBC Universal cable networks CNBC, Sci-Fi Network, MSNBC, Oxygen, Sleuth, and Chiller joined the program; and now nearly 100 channels run ads sold by Google.

Airtime can be bought by anyone with an AdWords account, and Nielsen provides viewer metrics to Google advertisers. Google even offers the tools to speed the creation of television advertisements with its catalog of third-party production houses.

"This partnership, combined with our existing relationship with DISH Network, means that you'll be able to reach up to 30 million satellite households with Google TV Ads," Mike Steib, Director of Emerging Platforms at Google said on Wednesday. "You'll have the ability to target this new inventory along with over 98 other cable networks already offered through our platform."