Update: Google has confirmed the purchase.

Peter Kafka at MediaMemo says the company,  which builds Bid Manager software for navigating advertising exchanges, hasn’t commented (nor has Google) on the acquisition.

But if Google (GOOG) does acquire the company, they’ll need to keep it independent until current client contracts expire.  It provides an exchange for not only Google’s Adsense and DoubleClick, but also for competitors like Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) and smaller ad networks like Adbrite.

Before Google bought it and for the immediate future, Bid Manager offered the following services, according to InviteMedia.com:

• Automatically buy from multiple ad exchanges in real-time, all through the same interface
• Take the keys and build your own exchange practice
• Use Bid Manager’s built-in real-time optimization system to maximize performance
• Work with our in-house platform and managed services teams to build best practices
• Solutions for both agencies and ad networks

More from Kafka:

Turner and his co-founders started Invite Media when they were still undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania; the company has offices in Philadelphia and New York City. Investors include Comcast’s (CMCSA) venture arm and First Round Capital.

This is an interesting pickup from Google not because it doesn’t fall inside its expanding advertising value chain, but because it clearly is something that its competitors generate revenue from.  Now that it is owned entirely by Google, its current value to customers will slowly wane.

Eventually as part of DoubleClick it will have to supplement Google’s own bidding system in some way to add value.