For direct marketers like us, mass media advertising on TV has always seemed mysterious. Why would a marketer pour a lot of money into TV if there is no way of selecting your audience? Isn’t there an alternative way to price TV spots other than the rate cards of networks and cable companies?
The pricing and distribution of TV commercials could change dramatically in the near future, and Google (yes, that Google) could change it.
Google has already changed the marketing paradigm of the Internet. Google’s AdWords (and similar programs by Yahoo and other search engines) have outpaced pop-up and banner advertising in popularity. Firms are spending countless hours figuring out which keywords to bid for to achieve prime placement in Google’s search results advertising space.
Now, Google is seeking to crack the $74 billion TV advertising world with programs that offer “mass personalization.” The Wall Street Journal says that Google is working with a California cable provider to offer commercials that have been sold to advertisers by Google. According to ZDNet, Google is also recruiting software engineers for television applications.
What would a world of Googlized television advertising bring?
• More personalization. Google’s data capabilities may lead to ads being personalized by subscriber demographics. So if your household is in a high income zone or subscribes to the tennis channel, you may see more ads for tennis racquets or tennis vacations than your downscale neighbors.
• More bidding for ads: Google is experimenting with an auction based system for selling its advertising (similar to how it sells AdWords on the Internet). Ad space may go to the highest bidder. An auction system would bring a new element of flexibility (and perhaps more instability) into TV commercial pricing models.
We find these developments exciting. The one downside is that we have to find a way to satisfy people’s notions of privacy while still using demographics to target ads. I don’t want to turn a TV on in the morning and when it’s time for a commercial hear the announcer say,
“Neil, because you have a wife and two children you should seriously consider our accident insurance program.”But I like to play card games, especially bridge. I might not mind a commercial for a duplicate bridge instructional camp to improve my spotty defensive play. It’s a fine line between targeting and intrusion. Let’s hope that Google will get it right.
What do you think of Google jumping into the TV advertising medium? Is this a new advertising arena for direct marketers, or will the coming of Google make more money for Google and less for traditional advertising companies?
I liked this article about Google’s advertsing efforts. I think that this new two way system of advertising will make it much easier for big corportations to reach target markets and likely get price breaks on dual advertising. Although, this article reminded me of the second largest type of advertsing in the Us today whcih is billboards. Billboards are developing new technology to get mroe ads to more people like rotating and LCD billboards that are more interactive. I would support this ofrm of advertising before hoping on television advertising.
I enjoyed the article about Google emerging in the television advertising market. It is logical that corporate advertisers would only want to have people in their target market view their advertisements. I think that people would be willing to give up some of the confidentiality to disclose personal information to Google. People do not enjoy commercials, but if I was given information on products/services that I am interested in or need I would be much less likely to TiVo them.
I think becoming too personal is not such a good thing. First of all companies advertise on tv to reach many different types of viewers and in doing so hope to encourage people to use their product, that may not currently have any use for such a product. Second i think it will backfire on google, because too much personalization is invading, and scary.
I think that the article shows a high interest in trying to personalize, but I think that the personalization is to much. I think that that is to much information for companies to know about us. Why do they need to know about our children, its bad enough that our government already knows that much information about us. The government can already track us through our cell phones, why do computer ads need to track us through our tv’s and computers. I think that this should not come into affect on society.
I think this is a genius idea for google. I think the personalization is a way for google to help companies maximize their revenues by targeting demographic locations specific to them. I do feel that people, especially those with children, would be willing to give up some information about where they live, a ballpark figure on their income, and the number of kids they have in order to receive commercials specific to their family. This also helps ensure that families with younger children don’t receive “racy” or “sexy” commercials that may be inappropriate for certain ages. This is not just a way for google to make more money, it’s a way for people to “subscribe” to what TV commercials they receive in their home. As Dan said above, if I were receiving commercials that I was interested in, I would be less likely to TiVo them, or change the channel when commercials came on. However, I do see it as a way for google to steal money from marketing firms by stepping in as the middleman just so they can have their name on it. It will be interesting to see how the business relationships work between the marketing firms/departments, google, and the networks.