Siliconbeat has solid coverage of Google’s initial moves into print advertising.
This is intesting to me, because a) Overture had been talking about it for at least a year or two when I arrived on the scene in Jan 2003 and still hasn’t done anything with it, b) it gives us a clearer picture of Google as Ad Agency, and c) there are many opportunities in reverse publishing (web to print) and syndication.
On the latter (‘c’), it’ll be interesting to watch for the tipping point wherein Yahoo, Google et al reverse publish their classified listings, ratings and reviews, etc, to print properties they partner with or acquire. The hunt’s been on for a while; perhaps 2006 is the year?