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Google to Track TV Viewers More Closely

Posted by timothy on from the from-each-according-to-his-quintile dept.

GalacticNoob writes "According to this post, Google is about to launch a TV advertising program that will let advertisers target audiences based on demographics including their household income. A satellite TV company called Echostar is working with credit-reporting company Equifax to cross-reference shows watched with income and buying habits (based on using Equifax's data)."

3 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Good and Bad TV Advertisements by artson · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I've noticed lately that a lot more TV ads are venturing into extremely obnoxious territory. Many of the ads are so annoying that I never want to see them again, so I mute that ad as soon as I clue in that it's coming. For the most part, I'm talking about ads that scream to get your attention. I dislike people screaming at me anyway, and if they are screaming to get my attention so they can siphon money from my wallet, they get on my mute first list.

    I know I'm not alone in this - lots of people are pretty quick with the mute button and it causes me to wonder.... Suppose you are an advertiser who pays for a really endearing ad that people love to watch. Maybe something like the slightly bewildered A&W proprietor they've been airing lately. So you go to the expense of creating ads that follow a story line and that are successful, if the audience sees and hears them.

    Now imagine what happens if your ad follows one of those obnoxious ads people immediately mute. I suppose the only solution is to make sure your ad is always in the first slot - but that could get expensive.

    --
    In times of trouble, the smell of frying onions usually gives confidence and comfort.
  2. Stop trying to target me! by st0rmshad0w · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You know, maybe if companies would spend less time trying to figure out how to target me with ads for stuff I find lacking and actually, oh I dunno, make products I actually want to buy, then maybe I would. And they wouldn't need to waste their ad dollars.

  3. Re:Do no evil? by D-Cypell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes, but TFA states this will happen indirectly. They are not talking about looking up your credit history and deciding which ads to push to you, but rather one partnership is going to use the credit history to decide which shows people in different income brackets tend to watch, and it is this information is going to be used by google to decide upon which adverts go with which shows.

    I am 100% certain that this 'income bracket to likely TV shows' correlation has been going on for years.

    So, factor the rubbish out of the story, and basically they are saying, google has invented a new technology that makes it easier for lower turn over business to access TV advertising and they are going to use all existing available data to target this advertising in a way that makes it a relevant ad to the viewer, thus increasing advertising investment efficiency for the advertiser. In other words, exactly what they do on the web.

    Google's justification for this will be exactly the same as their justification for their censored search results in China. The 'evil' will happen with or without them, but they believe that everyone is better off by having the service they provide. As somebody who accepts advertising as a necessary, an acceptable 'evil' to gain the benefit of media that is free at the point of delivery *and* somebody who uses google adsense I agree with them. Google has succeeded in making advertising less of a nuisance and I am happy for that.

    Basically, the worst you can say about this is that google are complicit in the 'evils' of somebody else. That alone might be enough for some to condemn them, I mention it purely in the interests of clarity.