Google's appearance on the agenda at the Casual Connect game convention in Seattle this week no doubt made people wonder about the extent of the company's plans in the industry. So Google's Bernie Stolar, a video-game veteran, addressed that question at the outset of the company's session today.

"I'm going to be very clear right now," Stolar said. "Google is involved in in-game advertising. I'm going to say it one more time, in case there's any misconceptions here: in-game advertising. This is an area that Google believes will have tremendous growth over the next number of years. ..."

"No Gbox, Bernie?" asked Google's Greg Schaffer, playing along.

Nope, no plans for a console, Stolar said. And no "Google Live," no video-game portal, and no video-game search, he said. Later, Stolar reiterated, "We are not going to be a publisher or a developer or a portal for games, at all. That's the jobs of everybody here. That's why we want to partner with you."

OK, we get the message. But what Google is doing in video games is still pretty interesting. Among other things, it gives Microsoft and its team from Massive some serious company in the video-game advertising market.

Specifically, Google outlined plans for "AdSense for Games," applying concepts from its existing AdSense program to video games.

That means game publishers will be able to use the Google system to put advertising in their games, and advertisers will be able to work through the Google system to buy ad space within games. Schaffer said it will start with ads in Web-based games, with plans to move into PC and console games later on.

During the public session, the Google team didn't show examples of what the ads will look like, telling the attendees to contact the company individually. Later, Google product marketing representative Eva Woo said the ads will be both video and text-based. Asked when the system will be rolled out, Schaffer said, "soon."

Although the Wednesday session provided new details about Google's plans, the company's intentions to enter the market have been apparent since its acquisition earlier this year of AdScape Media, where Schaffer was vice president of sales and Stolar was chairman.