AdAge reported on the move, where Berndt leaves behind a powerful ad house to build a “lab for innovation” at Google, according to sources cited in the story.

It could be that Berndt will do for Google what Microsoft’s purchase of aQuantive did for the Redmond company. Microsoft ended up with the Avenue A/Razorfish ad agency as part of the deal, and they don’t seem like they want to give that up.

It isn’t a secret that Google has an interest in the entertainment industry, particularly the potential of landing lucrative ad deals. As we noted earlier in September, Google wants TV ad reps for its New York operations.

New York serves as the global center for the advertising business, the refrain of ‘Madison Avenue’ a long-time nod to that. Combine Google’s burgeoning communication network acquisitions in New York and elsewhere, their possession of 500,000 square feet of Manhattan office space, and Berndt’s hiring, and it’s easy to perceive a Google desire to offer in-house ad services eventually.