Google has released details of its recent trials with new ads on some of its properties.

Users in the U.S. may have noticed new text and image ads Google is experimenting with on the results page of its Image Search.

Google has also introduced "Sponsored Videos" on YouTube that the company says is "a great example of matching ads to content."

Google closely followed its debut of real-time NASDAQ quotes on its Finance site with real-time information from the Big Board itself.

The financial service site operated by Google actually got two dates, allowing visitors to customize the range of activity they see with a stock.

Last week’s letter war between Carl Icahn and Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock was just a preview of what’s to come. Ichan and company have challenged Yahoo’s employee retention plan (Icahn calls it a severance plan) in a Delaware court. Slated to go to trial in July, the legal matter will be settled in advance of the annual shareholders meeting on August 1.

Real-time NASDAQ quotes, long the province of online brokerages as a perk for their clients, come to Google Finance as a new, free feature.

We haven’t yet been promised an update, much less a timeline or any specifics relating to its release.  Still, users of Google Finance have been asked to fill out a rather long survey, and it looks like this is a chance for people to influence the service’s future.

When it comes to money, Brits probably don’t need as much help as Americans; all other issues aside, it’s our economy, more than theirs, that’s heading into a recession.  Still, we think Google’s made a good move by introducing Google Finance UK.

Overcoming the inertia that keeps people going to other financial sites confronts Chris Jolley, group manager at Microsoft’s Financial Products Group, every day. He believe MSN Money deserves a look.

Recently I had a chance to post at WPW some reputation management help for Rebecca Kelly from SEOmoz.org. Here is the thread from WPW:

Reputation Management Advice

Yahoo wants to beef up its leading Finance site with videos, and will add CNBC content to the mix.

AOL will go head to head with Yahoo Finance as well as competition from Google and Microsoft, with all of these big Internet players looking for valuable financial news readers.

Google Finance recently gained the ability to share real-time stock quotes from China, and it’s rather proud of this fact.  Also, in the event you’re wondering why we don’t get real-time quotes from within the U.S., Google says it’s all the SEC’s fault.

Google’s allowed many of its products and services to grow old and moldy, and one of the most high-profile examples of this is Google Finance.  In theory, the site wouldn’t just appeal to some small niche group, but nonetheless, Google Finance isn’t really going anywhere.