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. Over this past weekend, 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 more information.
The initiative is a far cry from the commercial-skipping capability that made TiVo famous, if not infamous, in some circles of the advertising community. The new feature enables clients to still have a chance of reaching consumers even when they fast-forward past commercials.
Tagging is among a series of planned features that could potentially generate information for advertisers, helping them to gauge consumer interest. This interactivity was part of TiVo’s recently struck distribution deal with Comcast. TiVo’s stock rose upon last month’s announcement of that arrangement whereby 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.
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 โ 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