31 Mar Your TV May Be Watching You

In TV, one of the hardest things advertisers have to account for is ad placement for targeted audiences. It is common practice to extensively research consumer markets to calculate which one is most relevant. Because of this, it is exceedingly frustrating when, after hours of research and ad implementation, the spot just doesn’t hit the way it was intended. Cable operators take advantage of this imperfect science, offering bulk packages that include some options with the audience viewership you want and a few options “thrown in” (subtext: garbage).

Now, it seems as if Google has come up with a simple solution, almost at the expense of cable companies. Google is planning on taking their web advertising services and apply them to TV. Essentially, that means using viewers’ program history in order to tailor ads especially for what interests them – pretty much taking the tried and true method used online and bringing it to television.

The added analytics will effectively help advertisers deliver media buying for audiences that actually matter to their marketing campaigns. Advertisers aren’t the only ones benefitting from this style of ad. The viewer benefits too. Instead of seeing car commercials right after buying a new car, for example, automotive advertisers will know to keep “new car buyers” off their target list, therefore eliminating that programming from their docket. So, repeat commercials that aren’t relevant to you won’t be seen.

The obvious loser here? Cable companies. By filtering in those “thrown in” options, they make a lot of money. Having analytics and specific buys in the future means a lot of figures in the red for the big guys.