by Elinor Mills

Google is testing a new service called Ad Manager that will give Web site publishers more control over their ad sales and ad serving, The Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday.

Publishers can sell their own ads, run adds from other online ad networks or carry Google ads, the report says. The serving up of the ads, which can include text, display or video ads, will be offered for free. Typically, ad serving companies, like DoubleClick, charge to serve up the ads. Google got final approval for its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick earlier this week.

Google says it is targeting small- to medium-size publishers with Ad Manager and that DoubleClick's ad serving product is aimed at larger sites. A Google spokesman told the newspaper that there are no immediate plans to make DoubleClick products free, despite speculation that it will.