A major ad-sales agreement between Google and CBS is imminent and would likely include both advertising and content components, according to Merrill Lynch (via MediaBuyerPlanner).

Such an ad sales arrangement would primarily involve CBS's radio inventory and likely would not include network or local TV station time, writes MediaPost, quoting Merrill analyst Jessica Reif Cohen, who says the deal would include low-quality radio inventory for use with Google's dMarc radio service.

AdAge writes that the radio agreement is all but sewn up - and claims that Google and CBS are now in heavy negotiation for other content and inventory deals, the most interesting of which would be local TV ad inventory. If that were in fact part of the deal, Google might gain a wedge into the $60 billion U.S. television advertising industry.

According to Cohen, if Google Audio sells 10 percent of CBS Radio's ad inventory, it could generate approximately $200 million in revenue; CBS, meanwhile, would likely attract new advertisers to its platforms and create a more efficient sales model that would reduce the cost of selling advertising.

Google's move into offline ad sales has caused concern on Madison Ave., and not without reason. Such a deal "could involve disintermediation of traditional advertising buyers over time," Cohen is quoted as saying. She points out that Google deals could commoditize ad time and cause related pricing pressure.