‘Having people produce their own ads? We’re currently doing that,’ says Long Ellis, Google’s head of tv sales Monday evening in a Q&A at Google’s New York HQ.

‘We actually have some relationships with organizations. We’re building a self serve type platform, for clients who do not have the resources. They can produce their own ad at a fairly inexpensive price.’

Pressed for details Ellis starts backtracking. Partners in the project? ‘I’m not sure who they are,’ Ellis says.

Would the platform be like an auction? ‘I’m not sure they’re bidding for the jobs. They might be. Derek, do you know the answer to that?’

Derek Kuhl, Google’s head agency relations, reiterates the company line. ‘We’re not in the content creation business, we’re not in the agency business.

‘We’re not going to create consumers’ ads, sorry, advertisers’ ads for them,’ Kuhl says, ‘from Procter & Gamble to the pizza shop down the street.

‘What we want to do is create market places where, if you are a pizza shop down the street, you can tap into talent, folks that can help you do that in an efficient way.’