Slashdot Mirror
TiVo Lets You Respond to Ads
WalletBoy writes "TiVo is implementing a new feature in their Series 2 recorders where viewers can choose to have their personal-contact information sent to advertisers when certain commercials air using just their remote control." This is actually exactly how I think advertising should work. If I want more information, I can press thumbs up and have my email address sent to the advertiser. It's opt-in. I'm sure it will work because they use the same concept for letting you record a show by pressing thumbs up when a commercial for it is airing. If only every commercial supported these functions. Now if only MTV would use the same thing to email me song info for videos I like instead of covering the screen in tacky text.
And for the vast majority of iniane advertisering wouldn't it be nice to have another button that lets me tell them to "fuck off" :)
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
What I'd rather have is the "Thumbs Up/Down" buttons act as direct feedback to the advertizers:
:)
I like/Don't like this ad. You missed/hit your target audience. This ad was funny/offensive. That's cool/inane. More/no more Purple Pill commercials. That movie looks interesting/boring. Etc...
But of course, I miss most of the ads anyway with TiVo.
Get off my lawn.
"This is not unsolicited e-mail, you clicked thumbs up on Tivo to learn more about V1aGrA"
I would be afraid of the "spam" I had "voluntarily" opted-in to due to a fitful session of rolling over the remote in my sleep, except I already get it all now.
I, along with the article submitter, am all in favor of opt-in. I opt to provide the following feedback:
1) Unscrew back of remote.
2) Use X-Acto knife to cut the metal traces on the circuit board (or shave off the conductive traces on the plastic membrane) corresponding to the thumbs-up key.
3) Replace the "thumbs up" key with a picture of my middle finger.
> Now if only MTV would use the same thing to email me song info for videos I like instead of covering the screen in tacky text.
That'd be a cool idea, and might actually return something of useful information to the viewer in exchange for his/her expression of interest in the content. Unfortunately for the poster, MTV last showed a "video" in 1997.
If the content cartels would invest in a real micropayment system, Tivo would be awesome for them. In fact, I bet it'd be more profitable than anything they've had before. Instead of watching ads, I'd pay $2/episode for something like Battlestar Galactica or Stargate SG1. After the series is over, people who have paid for half ofthe series should get a 25-30% discount on the boxed set for the season and people who paid for the entire thing should get about 60-70% off. If I've paid $40-$60 for the entire season already, that's real, guaranteed money in their hands. Then, if they play their cards right, as a loyal fan I can buy the entire series on DVD for $25 including S&H since I already paid $40-$60 for the series.
The cost of making DVDs is really low now. If they pay only $1/DVD to make and it costs them $2 to make the box and shrink wrap it, a 5 DVD set like Stargate SG1 would cost $7 to make. They could realistically go to $15 before S&H if they were really gung ho about getting a paying fanbase going. Just think, right after you watch the last episode in the series, the TV channel popups up a message saying "Thanks for supporting this series with your micropayments, if you would like to own this series, because of your generous support we'll give you a 70% discount on the boxed set." They'd make a killing doing that for many series.
The problem though, is that regular TV sitcom bullshit would probably be hit hard initially by that. Imagine people having to pay for an episode of Friends or Seinfeld? At any rate, if the Cartoon Network, Comedy Central and Sci Fi Channel offered this, knowing their audiences, it'd work like a charm.
Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
[on that note, yeah, it is excessive for tampon commercials to be piped into a house with 3 20-something guys as the only residents.]
What shows are you watching? I never see those unless my wife is watching "Lifetime" or daytime TV.
Really, you can get an idea for the target audience for a show by watching the ads. Watch late night TV? You must need psychic help so you can decide which work-at-home scheme you want to invest in. At home during the day? You must be an unemployed laborer who was injured on the job and got screwed by the insurance company or you're a homemaker that needs a lot of feminine hygene and cleaning products.
I watch the History channel at night so I am a elderly toothless man, who likes pickup trucks. At least they got the gender right.
Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
I like this idea, and I think it could be used in other areas. What if users could use their remotes to review shows, much like how slashdot users moderate posts. For example, if you were watching an Episode of The Simpsons, and it wasn't as funny as usual, you could press a button to e-mail the creators "BELOW STANDARDS"...or if it was good "VERY FUNNY".
Voice your opinion!
Please explain why you won't buy the season on DVD at full price. You're a loyal fan, are you not?
You don't think the "loyal fan[boys]" aren't already ready to give up their 85 bones for the season set? Sadly, they are, so your scheme to get your copy at a cheaper price won't hold water from a balance sheet standpoint.Let me ask you something: why not go in with two friends and swap the disks around your group? That way, you get 69% "off" and you get the use of the whole set.
Yeah, right.
Probably not.
Because you can be sure she'll specify exactly what brand, model and version she wants.
And that's what you'd better get her if you know what's good for you.
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
You are right about ad demograhpics. I finally convinced my wife that she is no longer the target market for MTV, which is why she now thinks most of the shows "are stupid". It's not hard to figure out that you aren't the target market when they are advertising condoms, violent video games, music CDs of people you'll never listen to no matter what, fast food, and small cheaply made trendy cars with names the like "Matrix" and "Focus". After reminding her that eating out for us means a nice family italian resturant and not Wendy's, that she drives an expensive-ish mid-size import, that we have never seen a movie with a rapper playing a lead role, that we don't use pre-paid mobile phones, and that we won't be buying any CDs featuring artists with names like Beyoncee or Nickleback she realized that MTV isn't a network for her anymore (and yes, there were tears involved.. she was one of the many who took turns calling the cable company and demanding "her MTV"). Now, we watch shows that advertise things that interest us, and it seems that we both agree that it's a much better fit! Ads for vacations, mid-size cars and SUVs, chain resturants, movies featuring Jude Law and all that. That hardest thing is now remember to check what things are advertised when we watch the first episode of a new show (meaning, not instantly fast forward our DVR past the commericals). We can tell within about 6-8 minutes if the show is worth investing our time in!
Despite what TFA says, Tivo has had this for ages, it's not new. What the article is talking about is "enhanced showcases", and it's where you can see a "Press Thumbs Up For More" icon during an advertisement.
Pressing thumbs up pauses the material and takes you to a special showcase where they can have an extended video segment or pages of text or, yes, a "Please send me more info" screen where you can have them send more info.
Chevy did a big promotion a while back using this, and most of the Chevy commercials you saw on the screen took you to this showcase. There was a video of various cars doing speedway tests or something, and selecting the more info thing got them to mail you a packet of material. You could even request to have a dealer call you, which I did not try.
Some of the showcase material is quite cool, other times it's not as cool. Regardless, you don't have to see the ad to see the material, these extended showcases are shown on the normal "Showcases" screen as well. There's usually one or two available at any given time.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Do you often have strangers in your home mucking with your Tivo for extended periods of time?