Via Wall Street Journal news that TiVo Inc. is partnering with several big ad firms (Interpublic Media, Omnicom Group Inc.’s OM, Richards Group and Comcast Spotlight) to launch, next spring, a system that lets TiVo users to set up a profile of products on their television screens by clicking on categories such as automotive or travel or typing in keywords such as “BMW” or “cruises.” Advertisers, in turn, will be able to select the keywords and categories with which they wish to be associated for their ads. Tivo is still trying to figure out how to price such advertising, but bidding on keywords is one one option (similar to Google Adsense).
As pointed out on Business Week “Not many people these days look to TV ads for information.” Understatement! Most TV ads succeed on either a “building Brand awareness†level or (sometime and) an “Entertainment†level. Providing a ad relevant to a viewer will depend not just on appropriate tagging and classification by the advertiser, but change the nature of the ads themselves. Will the ads must be reverent and useful to “consumersâ€/â€viewsâ€? Look at the changing nature of Internet web advertising for examples of what to do and not to do.
Another possibility might be a “Social Model” of viewers tagging ads, but advertiser’s might be very uncomfortable with that one.
An alternative to the current options of commercial supported, embedded product presentation, or pay for view. Still to be determined is if TiVo can work with advertiser’s without pissing off their viewership or broadcasters. (Something they have not always managed well)
Dave Winer thinks “TiVO has just taken what I think will turn out to be a huge step in the right direction. The same technology they use that allows users to skip over ads they aren’t interested in, can now find ads they are interested in….” But will it pass the test he set in his Advertising in the age of podcasts Manifesto?
Michael Parekh points out some friction points.
Om Malik comments in “TiVo’s Adwords for TiVo” that “It is yet another nail in the coffin of the network television” and more.
There is also a TiVo CC Tagging Patent Application.
Let The Googlization of TiVO begin!
For another kind of Googlization, Canada’s Mark Evans wonders if it enhances or detracts from a Google acquisition.
John Paczkowski calls it Commercials on Demand.
IP Democracy thinks “a relatively silly idea” and is desperately trying to save itself.
James Moore calls Tivo’s move : Madison Avenue meets Craig’s List, which has a nice ring too it (true or not).
Note: This “Search For Ads” business model is something we are building at CentrSource as explained by my Boss, Bob Westrope @ The CEO Consumer.
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