New Google Groups Will Increase AdSense Footprint

Noticed the new Google Groups format yesterday when visiting AdWords Help. Looks pretty good. From the press release: "Web products for groups have traditionally focused on an email thread or message board format; they've been largely text based. Google Groups, however, now provides a richer forum for group collaboration... Read easily in a Gmail-style interface." What's missing from the press release, the blog announcement and even the new Google Groups tour is any mention of AdSense. I suspect that increasing the AdSense footprint is a primary driver for this new release. I don't believe ads are optional. Here's a screenshot:



I don't have a problem with Google running ads in Google Groups, much like they do for Gmail. I do find it odd, though, that ads aren't mentioned anywhere, except buried in some of the help files. For example, this help page says: "As always, Google Groups never displays popups and banner ads. You see only relevant text ads." If the new Google Groups do become popular, this will, indeed, expand the AdSense footprint. That's obviously good for Google's revenue. Might be good for Google advertisers, too. I wonder if Google will, in the future, make it possible to target ads for specific Google Groups. That would be a useful feature. In the meantime, I suspect they're simply lumped in with the Content network.

Tags (make your own with TagBuildr): google groups, adwords help, adsense, gmail, text ads