Update: The International Herald Tribune confirms that the BBC is in talks with Google, but notes that Beeb flaks are describing Monday's Guardian report (below) as "premature." Well, what else are you going to say when news of your own deal has leaked?

The Brit press is full of rumors this morning that the BBC is in talks with Google to distribute its video programming on Google Video, and perhaps eventually, on YouTube. No shocker there, of course, given that plenty of popular Beeb content already shows up on the video sharing sites. Might as well get paid for the stuff, wot?

"BBC Worldwide is understood to be looking at commercial options for the agreement, such as a share on contextual advertising that will run alongside BBC content," reports MediaGuardian. The word is that Goog CEO Eric Schmidt will announce the deal from Davos later this week. It's just another small step for Google (GOOG), but further evidence of the aggressive, commercial attitude among the Beeb's new media lot.

Close readers will recall that the quasi-public government monopoly launched a competition to redesign its web site last fall, and that more recently it began running ads on its site, despite some complaints from subscribers that the site should be ad-free since they already pay the country's infamous TV license fee.