Google seeks Web-linked billboard, kiosk patents

Google Inc., seeking to expand into markets beyond the Web, filed patent applications for digital billboards and in-store kiosks.

The billboards would display promotions based on where consumers are located and what products are in stock in surrounding stores, according to two patent applications the Mountain View, Calif.-based company filed last year. Merchants would submit ads through Google, the most frequently used search engine.

The applications indicate Google may target outdoor advertising, a market Merrill Lynch & Co. estimates at $6.7 billion in the U.S. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt is also testing print and radio ads as Google’s sales growth slows.

“It is an interesting concept targeting a nascent market opportunity,” UBS analyst Ben Schachter wrote Thursday in a note to clients.

Ricardo Reyes, a Google spokesman, said patent applications don’t necessarily indicate future products.

“We file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with,” he said. “Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t.”

Mall kiosks could print coupons for local stores based on inventory or shopper input, Google said in the applications. For example, someone looking for shirts or blouses could be offered a 15%-off coupon at Ann Taylor. Stores also could promote products that are perishable or overstocked, Google said.

Shares of Google fell $9.45 to $487.83.