Tivo Tries, Cancels PayPerPost Ad Strategy

Tivo tries out PayPerPost- essentially pseudo viral marketing where you pay people for creating advertising for you and getting it out on the net. Unsurprisingly, when this all came out, people complained and they killed the program and tried to pull the videos when they realized that they were looking like tools.

Comments

Damn ads

[Luke Dawson]

people complained and they killed the program and tried to pull the videos when they realized that they were looking like tools.

Yeah, real professional commentary there. Anyhow, why can't we just ban these frigging ads where "real" people are supposedly testifying at just how great a product is? Everything from credit counseling to floor polish seems to have them these days. Seriously, can't they come up with something more original? I don't want to see a bunch of paid actors gushing about how fantastic a product is, I want to know what it does and why I should buy it. The most amusing one I saw was for a product that helps you store your kitchen roll by hooking a container over a door. The people were like "it's changed my life", "life is so much easier now"...I mean, what the FUCK? How messed up does your life have to be that where you store your kitchen roll has a profound impact on the quality of your life!?

Re:Damn ads

[techpawn]

They're banking on the social "word of mouth" style of advertising. It's the old psychological thing of "Oh hey! Bob's using it and he's doing well. I might as well too so I can do well!" That's why they have these "real" people give testimonials about the products. So other Sheeple will follow them off the cliffs

Re:Damn ads

[maxume]

I'm concerned now, as I have no idea what a kitchen roll is, and apparently, I could be using one to change my life.

(I'll jump in here and ruin the joke myself, to beat the inevitable interlopers to it, 'kitchen roll' is apparently how some British people refer to paper towels)

Re:Damn ads

[mooingyak]

We've got some big assholes over here. They tend to be very publicly visible and hold a wide variety of elected positions. I'm surprised you're not familiar with them.

Re:Free money!

[sprag]

I hate GWB, but any video on youtube with Yakety-Sax in the background is serious business!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cMO8Pyi3UpY

Woe be to TiVo

[Generic Guy]

I hate to say it, but I can't say I'm surprised. Seems that in recent years TiVO has been losing support from their most-ardent fans -- the longtime TiVo owners (like myself). Tivo has squandered a lot of the goodwill from their own community.

• There have been a lot of crazy pricing structure changes, all of which are more expensive than previously.
• Tivo now wants a minimum one-year "lock-in" similar to the cell-phone dealers. You cannot try the service for a couple of months to see if you like it.
• They ended the Lifetime Subscription option which was popular with folks who hate recurring bills.
• After a year on the market there are serious questions about the performance and reliability of their newest and most-expensive HiDef units. And its incompatible with the new SDV (Switched Digital Video) being introduced on a lot of cable systems.
• Encroachment of more and more insidious kinds of advertising on a machine already expensive to buy and maintain.
• Customer service leaves a lot wanting. For the cost, you'd think they would have better/more-knowledgable CSRs without the long wait-times.
• And most-dangerously... inexpensive, competing units direct from the Cable Companies and Satellite vendors which have moved from "outright horrible" to "moderately usable". TiVo is fighting a war of attrition.

Tivo's biggest problem seems to be losing evangelism from their (former) biggest fans. It's too expensive and the lock-in seems abusive. And without the Lifetime to fall back on, I can't really recommend it anymore. I'm not the only old-timer who feels this way.

It's no wonder they need to turn to astroturfing.

Re:Woe be to TiVo

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, there's no reason to buy a TiVo any more. Most people already pay their cable company for the only thing that TiVo actually offers, which is the TV guide.

Otherwise, you're always better off renting a DVR from the cable company. Hard drives last about three years max. TiVo costs $300 plus a monthly fee of $13/month. You can rent a DVR from the cable company for about $15/month. So TiVo is only $2/month cheaper, and that's ignoring the upfront cost. Since the TiVo box will wear out and die in three years, and you'll have to buy a new one, you're looking at a true cost of around $22/month for TiVo.

When renting a box from the cable company, you can replace it at any time at no cost.

There's no reason to buy a TiVo any more. Just rent a DVR from the cable company. It's cheaper, you don't have to worry about replacing it, and unlike the ongoing TiVo Cable Card disaster, it'll actually work.

stupid covert ads

[britneys 9th husband]

I hate it when companies like Tivo do dishonest things like paying people to write crappy covert ads for them. At least when I get stressed out like this, I can calm down by smoking Laramies or Laramie Extra-Tars. The clean refreshing taste of Laramie. Start smoking them today, or you'll live to regret it!