Google said Friday it has signed an agreement with Russian Internet company Rambler Media to buy online advertising company ZAO Begun for US$140 million.

Google said the deal underscores its commitment to improve the services it offers its users, partners and advertisers in Russia. Google said acquiring Begun will give advertisers access to a broader network of sites, will give Web site owners more ads to run on their sites and will provide users with access to more relevant ads on more Web sites.

A 6-year-old company, Zao Begun has a search and contextual advertising business with about 40,000 advertisers and a network of 143,000 Russian-language Web sites. The company is majority owned by Rambler Media, which said it also signed an additional agreement to use Google's AdSense technology on its main portal. Rambler said it will buy the remainder of Begun from Bannatyne Ltd., and then sell all of Begun to Google. Rambler said it expects to clear $50 million from the deal.

The deal with Google, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

Information from the IDG News Service was included in this report.