New York - Google has filed for a patent on digital billboard technology that would turn "kiosk-type billboards" in malls, airports and elsewhere into "a network of electronic display devices," The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

However, the company cautioned that the application, filed on Dec. 21, will not necessarily result in a new service.

"We file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don't," Google spokesman Ricardo Reyes told The Journal.

Such a service could integrate Google's successful keyword-based ad system, which is also the foundation of recent forays by the company into newspaper and radio ads, into another untapped segment.

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates the U.S. outdoor advertising market is a $7.4 billion industry.

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