TechCrunch reports that Google is soft-launching Google Ad Manager (invite only), which is, well, an ad manager hosted by Google. The idea is to handle all your ads on one central place, not having to go into website templates and such to change them. You just nab the generated code once, put it in there, and serve your ads from the Google Ad Manager interface.

It’s nothing new. PhpMyAds - now OpenX - and similar self-hosted script solutions have been available for ages. Advertising networks, like DoubleClick (which Google now owns, incidentally) and Adveritsing.com, have done the same. They just sent you a code snippet for each ad space, and then they swap, rotate, and control the ads from a central place.

Just like Google Ad Manager.

The idea is solid, which is why OpenX are getting ready to launch their hosted service, and services like Mark Wielgus’ ShowYourAdHere.com (read the BloggerTalks interview for more). But I’d say Google is one up on the competition. They’re already offering Adsense integration for unsold inventory, and you can expect Google Ad Manager to work closely with the DoubleClick Revenue Center.

Personally, I think competition is a good thing for bloggers. Hacking around in your blog theme to swap ads are bulky and boring, managing everything in one place is good.

Will you change how you handle your ads when Google joins the fray, or is this old news to you? In essence, how do you handle your ads today?