Why waste good real estate?

If you’ve been to the Google homepage today, you may have noticed what CNET is calling a first. A big, ol, ad for Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet.

That Google would go to such lengths underscores the company’s desire to make a bigger dent in burgeoning tablet market, one still dominated by Apple’s iPad. Given the traffic that goes through Google, the home page is one of the most coveted spots and prime real estate for advertisers. The company, however, has traditionally resisted attempts to run advertisements on its main page, beyond a link to its Chrome browser.

Does this mark some sort of more fundamental change a Google? Is the Google search page going to morph into a Google store? And what about those artists that redesign the Google logo on holidays? Are they going to have to become ad guys now?

Bonus question: Why do so many tablets coming on the market cost $199?