Primedia to Sell Internet Ad Unit to Google

Primedia Inc., the publisher of magazines such as New York and the owner of Internet directory About.com, said it would sell its Sprinks online advertising division to Web search company Google Inc.

Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed. Sprinks, with 10,000 advertising clients, targets consumers by placing an ad for baking pans, for example, next to an article about cooking.

Google will provide advertising for Primedia’s Web sites as part of a four-year revenue-sharing agreement.