InternetNews: Google, Lycos Europe Ink Content-Ad Deal

The contextual ads will appear on a total of four million pages of Lycos Tripod, a free service that lets Lycos members create their own Web pages. […] The ads appear in skyscraper placements on Tripod pages, displaying four paid listings on the right side of the page. Advertisers select targeting parameters for their ads, including geo-targeting and language.

We keep hearing that contextual ads aren't anywhere as effective as search-engine ads, so I'm not sure this increased distribution is really valuable to advertisers. Besides, many non-blog homepages are not really kept updated or relevant to anyone but their owners. How traditional personal pages can be a compelling place to be for advertisers remains to be seen. Is Google interested in carpet bombing casino and Classmates ads? (but then carpet bombing has been renamed surgical striking, so what do I know?)