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Targeted Advertising Using Digital Set-Top Boxes

Posted by timothy on from the every-home-a-target dept.

Moonshine writes: "Interesting story at TVTechnology regarding targeted advertising using new techology. Seems like all set-top boxes have a unique ID and they can send a code to any given one to change the channel for the period of the targeted ad and the viewer is none the wiser. What about privacy...well: Invidi says its system is designed to assure privacy. 'The system never knows what the viewer is watching since the headend never knows specifics about what the set-top box is doing,' said Anderson. 'And we never associate the set-top box address with a physical home address.'"

5 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. It's not changing channels by quistas · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's inserting ads into the streams. I can't believe a submitter didn't read the article, but...

    They do this now, to some extent. Program feeds have spots in them which are filled by local broadcast affiliates/your cable company, so the ads are targeted for market. For instance, if I'm watching a baseball game, during the break my cable company gets to toss an ad in that break that they've sold themselves (this is the 'cablehead' they're talking about in the article), for a restaurant within the boundaries of the cable system's reach.

    As to privacy, they're pretty much lying, or at the very least being intentionally oblivious. They're talking about knowing if you've just bought a car, or your lease is up -- they intend us to believe that it's okay to correlate that much personal data on me for purposes of serving me a targeted car ad, as long as they aren't able to deliver a sample pizza after a Domino's ad?

    -- q

    1. Re:It's not changing channels by Izang · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, Charter Digital Cable streams advertisements on the channel guide and the channel information bar. The two adds they place on the left hand side of the screen makes it difficult to read the channel guide. There's about 45% of the screen left to display program titles and of course they're all truncated. Every time I change the channel the information bar pops up at the top of the screen. There's an advertisement box on the left hand side that also truncates the program information.

      It's slow, hard to navigate and there's no way to customize any of the menu settings. Their service reminds me of pop-up advertisements that won't go away.

      I feel that there should be no additional charge for digital cable if they are going to shove advertisements down my throat every time I change the channel. I'll be switching back to satellite when my trial movie package expires.

  2. P.O. Television. by Perdo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "All the information from the 2000 census is available for free from the United States government," Anderson said. "No one is out in front of their mailbox with a shotgun to prevent direct marketers from distributing targeted print advertising. Yet with television, there is a greater level of concern."

    I use A P.O. Box.

    Are they somehow going to give me the anonymity of P.O. television?

    No.

    They will use every means at their disposal to generate income once their "???" doesn't become "Profit!". And that means they are going to sell me out.

    My mail does not come to where I live.
    My Television does.

    --

    If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.

  3. If they don't get info from the set top box... by Romancer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If they don't get info from the set top box...
    Info like what the user is watching and what they like etc...
    Then how do they target the ads effectivly?

    --


    ) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
    ) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
  4. Mentality issues. by Gray · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Here's the way TV works:
    -You identify an audience you think an advertiser wants. (ex, women 18-34)
    -You develop content that will (hopefully) appeal to that audience.
    -You sell access to that audience to the advertiser.

    Take away the advertising and nobody gets out of bed in the morning.

    Make the advertising more profitable and there is money to blow on the content. Make it less profitable and you'll be watching crap. Broadcast quality TV is still VERY expensive to make.

    "No no", you say, "the greedy networks will just keep the money." I ask you, when has competition ever let that happen with any medium in the past?

    Besides, nobody really cares that you watch more porn then PBS except you and your self inflicted guilt.