Google's Revolution May Not Be Televised

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Of course, these third-party companies, which have limited reach themselves, do not set pricing for ads. TNS Media Research, for example, is new to the U.S. market. Its service is in 300,000 homes in Los Angeles and thousands of homes using DIRECTV. But its data can, and arguably does, influence network prices.

Trust and Good Feelings

Furthermore, some advertisers may not entirely trust data provided by a company that takes a share of the advertising dollars spent, says George Shababb, chief operating officer of TNS Media Research. "I think that the industry will always look for third-party objectivity," says Shababb.

For Google's service to really become revolutionary, it must also change how marketers and networks perceive advertising. Today, advertising is not a mere commodity to be bought, sold, and traded based solely on price. It is purchased, in part, through relationships individual media buyers and advertisers have with networks and the deals they negotiate. A network, for example, may choose to give deals to an advertiser with whom it wants to build a relationship or whose brand it feels has a positive association for its content. Marketers may choose to sponsor a show they feel engenders good feelings toward its brand.

High Bar

These hurdles, of course, don't mean that Google won't make money from TV advertising. Google has a network of advertisers, many of which have yet to spend money on television because they are too small and lack the knowhow and connections to produce television ads and buy time on networks. Google's service would lower the entry barrier by making it more straightforward to buy advertising on EchoStar's 125 national networks. Google will also give its advertisers access to the roughly 23,000 subscribers it reaches through Astound Broadband, a California television operator.

Google also plans to launch a service that would match businesses with agencies capable of producing a video ad for them at their desired price, says Desai. "I think having an online platform will be hugely helpful to them," says Desai.

The effort to reach beyond online advertising won't be bad for Google either, says Merrill Lynch (MER) analyst Justin Post. The television initiative, combined with similar efforts in radio, print, and e-commerce technology and software, could increase Google's share value by about $40, Post reckons.

For most companies, that would be a momentous lift. But considering that Google's stock is already north of $470, it's short of revolutionary.

Holahan is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York .