By Robert Goldrich
ALVISO, Calif. --The ad-friendly strategy unveiled late last year by TiVo (SHOOT, 11/26/04, p. 1) is now starting to be implemented and built upon. Back in March, the Aliviso-headquartered TiVo released the first in a series of advertising features–fast-forward “tagging”–to a random, relatively small number of subscribers.
Via tagging, when viewers fast-forward past an ad, an embedded graphic pops up on screen to notify them of the commercial. If the pop-up tag is of interest to a prospective consumer, he or she can request to see more and to access additional information.
Tagging is among a series of planned features that could potentially generate information for advertisers, helping them to gauge consumer interest. This interactivity is a prime component in TiVo’s recently struck distribution deal with Comcast. Per that agreement, TiVo service will be made widely available to Comcast customers in most of the cable company’s U.S. markets. Additionally, TiVo and Comcast plan to team on the development of a version of the TiVo service for Comcast’s existing digital recording platform. TiVo intends to devise software that will be incorporated into Comcast’s current primary platform.
The relationship between Comcast and TiVo figures to yield other attractive ad-related options. For example, as the two companies mesh their capabilities, a greater number of consumers will be able to find, view and store spots for products and services in which they have an interest. These selected ads will help empower prospective consumers to seek out additional information as they formulate buying decisions. Furthermore customers could potentially purchase these goods and services through electronic transactions.
TV viewers may also start to find that commercials of relevance to them are becoming more readily available. As earlier reported (SHOOT, 4/22, p. 1), Comcast maintains a partnership with Visible World, a New York-based addressable ad technology company. Visible World’s addressable technology–delivering customized spots to targeted neighborhoods–can currently reach 26 of the markets, encompassing 25 million-plus households, in the Comcast network.Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More