From an email from Google:
Google Announces TV Ads Trial
At Google, we are constantly looking for ways to improve the user experience and bring value to advertisers, publishers and partners. Users spend a lot of time watching TV so improving the relevance of advertising information on that medium is important. That’s why today we are excited to announce our trial to deliver Google TV ads. Working closely with our partners, EchoStar and Astound Cable, we are currently running a trial to deliver better ads to viewers and help advertisers, operators and programmers more efficiently buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television.
Deliver more relevant ads to viewers and provide better reporting for advertisers
Advances in set-top-box technologies make it possible to report aggregate statistics on how many times an ad was viewed and whether it was watched through to the end. As part of this trial, we will be working with partners to use aggregate, anonymized set-top-box metrics to deliver timely and accurate viewing reports. Advertisers can use this data to understand the effectiveness of their TV ad campaigns and use this information to provide more relevant ads to viewers.
Bring more advertisers to TV and help inventory owners
With our AdWords™ and AdSense™ advertising programs we have seen the benefits of the long tail and we think we can apply these principles to help grow the TV advertising industry. Our goal is to extend the reach and visual power of this medium to include more advertisers, large and small, and help monetize more TV programming with relevant ads.
Create efficiencies in the existing model
With Google TV ads, the entire process is automated – from planning the campaign to uploading and serving the ad to reporting on its effectiveness. Like our AdWords advertising program, Google TV ads are bought using an auction model and through a single online interface that is already familiar to agencies and advertisers. Advertisers can target by demographic, daypart and channel and pay only for actual impressions delivered. Pricing is on a CPM basis. Because the entire process is automated and online, advertisers can plan their TV ad campaigns efficiently all year long. The flexibility of this model also allows advertisers to make changes to their campaigns as often and as quickly as they like.
This is an early trial. We look forward to getting feedback and working closely with advertisers, agencies and partners to improve and expand our TV ads offering.
more from SEL
Google (and anyone else using this set top box data) might acquire some interesting data about our viewing habits. But how are they going to be able to tell if we are watching their ads to the end, or if people leave the tv running while they get up and make a cup of tea during them?
Will we have Google CCTV soon too? (Now that thought does make me nervous!)
Tivo philosophy: Users spend a lot of time watching TV, so improving their ability to skip commercials and not waste so much of their precious day is important.
Google philosophy: “Users spend a lot of time watching TV so improving the relevance of advertising information on that medium is important.”
Guess which philosophy I, as and “end user/consumer”, prefer?