Google after the bell for 9-11-06: The advertising monolith cometh

Google shares closed up to $384.09, an increase of $6.24 or 1.65% from Friday's close. While Google is under-the-covers planning, most likely, to take on the television advertising market, could the search and advertising network leader lose potential revenue to YouTube? Hardly, say media and industry pundits; and I agree with them. YouTube's content, for the most part, is unofficial video clips of people doing just about anything -- a segment that advertisers are reluctant to approach, reports Jonathan Berr with TheStreet.com.

But, what if advertisers warm up to the idea of getting in front of targeted eyeballs? That seems to be the dream of every marketed, and with the world of personal and immediate communication changing due to the Internet, there's no reason that established companies and players would not want to be in front of millions -- tens of millions -- of eyeballs. It's the reason News Corp. bought MySpace.com and it's the same reason that could lead to advertisers seeking out spots on YouTube.com.

Fox, LookSmart and Tribune Media are even auctioning off ad space on non-utilized website pages to drive a little (or a lot) more ad revenue for their respective networks. Looks like Internet advertising never really went away -- it just became smarter and more relevant. This is a notion that Google has apparently known since the beginning, and it's cashed in big on that bet, which ultimately came true better than the company could have hoped. Will others cash in?