VentureBeat

Advertising is perhaps now the key element to Google. One could even make the argument that it’s even more vital to the company now than its core product, search, is. After all, if someone pulled the plug on Google’s AdSense and AdWords revenues, the company would be a shadow of itself. That’s why it continues to diversify its advertising projects.

Television is a particularly important space when it comes to advertising, and today, Google has announced a partnership with Bloomberg TV to supply ads for the channel. This follows deals Google has with NBC Universal (select channels) and Dish Network in the television space.

The reason Google ads are attractive to those in the television industry is that Google has developed a technology that lets advertisers know which ads are being watched at any given moment. A product that is more attractive to advertisers means a product that is more attractive to the content producers.

If something like this were to catch on, it could revolutionize the television advertising industry. The TV ads run through Google only cost money to advertisers when impressions are being made, just as Google’s online AdSense ads only charge per impressions made or click-throughs, as CNET notes.

Such a move could make television ad buys much more efficient for advertisers.

Also, as more content from the Internet makes its way to television, we could start to see a merging of the advertising landscapes for both industries. It’s smart for Google to have its hands in both pots.

Spot Runner is another company that was attempting to bridge the gap between online advertising and television advertising. Unfortunately, that company has had to lay-off employees recently and realign its strategy.

Norman Pearlstine, the former editor in chief of Time Inc., has left the politically connected buyout firm Carlyle after less than two years, and joined the financial media company, Bloomberg.

The departure comes at a time when Carlyle is going through serious turmoil, with prominent partner Bob Grady stepping into a lesser role. The firm recently lost two other partners and replaced them with others.

In March, lenders seized the assets of one of its subsidiaries Carlyle Capital, sending it into insolvency. That’s a big embarrassment for the firm that was once vilified by Michael Moore in his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 for its extensive power.

Pearlstine will be chief content officer of the Bloomberg group, apparently a newly created job mandated with finding “growth opportunities.”

But here’s another interpretation of the move: We’re hearing Bloomberg is up for sale. Could it mean that Carlyle might be a buyer? If you were Carlyle, you’d put someone on the inside first, right?