Google is giving advertisers buying TV ads through the company access to data that informs its search ad buys with a new product called Search Triggers.

The program will let advertisers adjust their buys if search data shows a trend. For instance, a grill manufacturer might heavy-up on an ad buys if searches for “grills” spike or if other related searches, like “barbecues” increase.

Though some ad agencies already use search data to make informed decisions about their TV buys, Jody Shapiro, a product manager at Google, says Google hasn’t linked its Google TV Ads to search data before. Previously, Previously, Google TV Ads let advertisers bid on slots related to what the advertiser was selling. For instance, a pet food advertiser would be able to bid on an episode of How I Met Your Mother if it featured a dog.

Google TV Ads, which launched in 2008, look just like ordinary commercials to viewers. The idea was to create a solution for advertisers modeled on Google’s successful...

DESPITE online video and commercial-skipping DVRs, companies still spend 38 percent of their advertising budgets on television ads and just 1 percent on online video. YouTube is trying to change that.

Global online TV and video revenues will grow five times their current size to reach $21.52 billion in 2016 from $3.48 billion in 2010, according to London-based media research company Digital TV Research.

One big mover will be so-called "Over-The-Top" (OTT) alternative TV/video providers that use the Internet to act like terrestrial cable operators and/or satellite programming services.

The report says: “The OTT television and video sector is on the brink of a huge take-off as the key players expand internationally, companies consolidat[ing] (with Hulu about to be sold to one of existing major players) and as new partnerships are announced on a daily basis.”

Skyrocketing growth will also result as more global homes watch TV and video via the internet. By 2016, 415 million homes in 40 countries will watch online television and video, up from 177 million in 2010.

The...

Brands spent more money advertising on the Internet in Britain than they did on TV for the first time in the first half of 2011, as companies moved online to reach the millions of Britons using social networks and watching videos.

The bi-annual report by the Internet Advertising Bureau, PwC and marketing group WARC said advertising online in Britain rose 13.5 percent in the first six months to 2.26 billion pounds ($3.48 billion), giving it a record high market share of 27 percent.

TV had a market share of 26 percent, the report said.

The medium was boosted by 100 percent growth in online video ads, strong spending by companies in the fast moving consumer goods sector (FMCG), and campaigns designed for social media.

Within the Internet category, 58 percent of revenues came from search advertising, with 23 percent on display ads and 17 percent on classified ads.

Search advertising grew 12.6 percent, while display advertising grew by 18.5 percent, boosted by new formats and demand...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - One of the rewards of watching TV online is not having to sit through as many commercials. Now the networks are chipping away at that little luxury.

CBS shows twice as many ads per show on its website as it did last year. The CW network shows four times as many. Dozens of shows from major cable networks now carry as many ads online as they do on TV. More shows will follow soon.

The online audience is still small compared with television, but it's growing. Networks hope that by showing more ads, they can make about as much money per viewer online as they do on the tube.

It's a change from the early days of online video. When ABC started putting full episodes of its shows online in 2006, fans could zip through the hour-long dramas "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" in about 45 minutes. One short ad played a few times per show.

Limiting commercials kept people from going to unauthorized websites to watch pirated copies of shows. It also helped networks reach new...