Targeted TV Ads: Silver Bullet Or Privacy Nightmare?

ericjones12398 writes "The effectiveness of television, as an advertising medium and as a return on investment (ROI), has been constantly questioned since the arrival of the 'digital marketing age.' Not surprisingly, those who are loudest with this concern are mainly high-tech technology companies that are either strong proponents of online advertising — like Google — and/or device hardware manufacturers — like Apple. These organizations hope to 'improve the user experience' by introducing proprietary technologies — usually their own — that can integrate within the existing television environment."

Comments

I only buy

[ackthpt]

Highly sugared, caffeinated, low fibre, deep-fried breakfast cereals I see endorsed by /. posters.

Anyone watch TV anymore?

[charnov]

I turned off the cable years ago... anything good on besides Mad Men and Game of Thrones?

Re:Anyone watch TV anymore?

[mrmeval]

I can't even watch the shows I'm interested in due to the shit slide ups taking up half the screen in the middle of a critical moment. On screen fuck smudge animations that take up two fifths of the screen and block all of the action kill the show. Both of these lasted for 3 minutes and as annoying as possible. On a different shit slide up they lowered the shows audio once to blare out at distorted volume an ad. Couple this with the cable company injecting their vomitous banner at the bottom and inserting their own ads between the ads already inserted and I just quit.

Movies are no alternative I can't even go see a movie without being bombarded by ads and now those are, by contract, timed to never quite be the same amount of time consistently so you can't wait and avoid them. Then there's the propaganda, such as was in the 2nd ghost rider where N cage gives verbal fellatio to the MPAA

Should I care to watch some show I'll wait for the DVD but I'll first make sure the contemptible fucks didn't stick an ad in the middle of it as I just had happen on a DVD that did not indicate it was a repackage, looked authentic and was available in a reputable store.

I finally got to the point local and network television became a time wasting sickening thing in the late 90s from the propaganda and ads that I just turned it off.

I'll stick with live theater, indie music, books, web comics and the like.

Targeted?

[sycodon]

So, I'll start seeing porn commercials?

Re:Really?

[Anrego]

It's currently possible to detect this. Right now most media companies don't bother, but if this became more wide spread I can totally see a cat/mouse game of media companies inventing ways of verifying ad delivery, and consumers circumventing them.

Targetted Silver bullet?

[GoodNewsJimDotCom]

Me: *cracks open a Yuengling beer"
TV: *watches me and scans the room through video camera*
TV: Wouldn't you rather have a Coors Light? If you don't like the taste of beer, Coors has less taste as it is designed to be closer to water.
Me: *Sips some Yuengling*
Me: No thanks TV, I like my beer's taste.
TV: One way or another you're going to taste the silver bullet.
Me: "You'll have to pry my Yuengling out of my cold dead hands."
TV: Okay... *fires a gun at me, wounding me*
Me: "How could TV betray me! These spy cameras were supposed to be innocent and the people who were supposed to be spied on is the enemy."
TV: You betrayed your country by not buying the things in the ads. How will the patriotic television exist if you don't buy what is in the ads? It was either me or you kid.
TV: *fires a few more bullets*
Me: *aaaaarrgh*
TV: "Recording deleted for security concerns"

Adblocking and Neflix

[Das Auge]

You can't -- yet -- adblock television, but Neflix works for now.

December, two years ago, I ditched broadcast TV in favor of Netflix and what I could find online (mostly Hulu). A couple of months later, I caught my young children watching this cool new show they just found on Netflix: Voltron. It brought back memories, so I say down and watched it with them. At one point, the screen darkened. It's the spot where a commercial could've gone, but the video just faded back in and picked up where there story left off. It hit me, there aren't any ads in Netflix shows.

Over the next several months I realized that my children asked less often for toys and other consumer items. Now, a year and a half after switching Netflix, my children only ask for stuff less than a quarter of what they used to do. And what they do ask for are stuff like video games, slingshots, and skateboards.

I realized that cutting them off from the constant bombardment of "Buy! Buy! Buy!" of commercials -- that use psychological tricks -- has short circuited their indoctrination into the cult of consumerism.

Taking commercials out of their lives in one of the best things I've ever done for them (in additional to attentive parenting). I recommend you other parents do the same.

Re:Adblocking and Neflix

[Luckyo]

It would be pretty interesting if this could ever be used to slam unstoppable force (anti-piracy movement) and unmovable object (protect the children movement) against one another.

It would be like watching two evil empires duke it out. Except that it wouldn't be "like", but exactly like that.

Re:Adblocking and Neflix

[Liam Pomfret]

I would wonder if removing commercials from their lives might actually be a negative in the long run. It saves you money now, but they're not receiving any inoculation against advertising tricks and so might become more vulnerable to them later in life. Rather than just turning on the taps of advertising again though, you might consider watching a show together with them that talks about ads in a way that'll give them that inoculation, and which they'll find entertaining. The "Gruen Transfer" series by Australia's ABC is awesome, if you can track it down at all, and the "Gruen Nation" spin-off series they did about election advertising should be a must watch for any voter.

Re:Adblocking and Neflix

[Hyperhaplo]

A friend of mine grew up in some NZ town out back in the middle of nowhere. Spent half his day in "class" (home school) and the other half fishing, wandering the country side and a host of other activities young boys would love to spend their life doing when stuck in the middle of nowhere.

His opinion of TV advertising is that because he was not exposed to it when he was young he is offended by it now and automatically filters out the crap. He sees the ads, but they have no meaning for him, and his brain has switched his eyes off and his brain on.. more than likely to have a good think about his current website work (this is a decade ago).

Having seen various kids of my relatives and friends I think that the less expose the better. Another of my friend has educated his kids to mute the ads :-) No mute = no show. Amazing the difference it makes once they learn the hard way that the TV will be turned off and stay off for one hour after if any ad is allowed to have sound.

Meanwhile, I am more concerned that ads in Australia are blasted at the loudest volume.. which is really disturbing at night. I am waiting for a TV system for which I can set the TV at say 65db and no sound from the TV will exceed that.

Still waiting for these wonderful services you get in America to arrive in Australia..

I'll Watch or Click On Ads

[Greyfox]

If they're something I'm interested in, or remarkably clever. I'm not ever likely to buy insurance from Geiko, but I find their "Possum" commercial hysterical. I might rewind and watch a video game commercial. Once. I probably won't watch that same video game commercial again though. Car commercial? Maybe, but they don't actually advertise the cars I'm interested in. Most of the stuff that I do actually buy, I hear about through word-of-mouth. I've clicked through to Thinkgeek a couple of times from Slashdot. I would probably buy a "laser" if they advertised one of sufficient power (That I could set people on fire with, since doing it with my mind doesn't seem to be working too well.) I don't think I'm really anyone's "target demographic" though. I think I would respond best to adverts for cerebral indie flicks and furry porn. So far, no one seems to be serving those up. Google, get to it!

Re:Really?

[gmanterry]

Even with that, I watch TV using mythbuntu. I record first and watch later. I also skip the adds. No adds in my own time. Marketing companies are not allowed to provide me with their opinions on how my life shlid be like

That's the way I feel too. When I was young we had radio. Then we got a TV when I was in school. At first TV had five minutes per hour of commercials. Now it's 40 minutes. I am quite frankly filled to overflowing with TV commercials. The same crap repeated multiple times in the same hour. Sometimes two times in a row. If I couldn't skip those brainless annoying infantile wastes of my time I would quit watching TV completely. I seriously mean that. I am, at my age, commercialed out. I get really annoyed when someone calls my "Do not call listed" phone. If I want something, I'll buy it. I have never had a good experience with buying anything sold to me over the phone, or door to door, with the sole exception of Girl Scout Cookies. Leave me alone! You reach an age where you can no longer tolerate people coming into your home by way of your TV, selling condoms, Viagra, feminine hygiene products and car insurance that is $200.00 cheaper than any other insurance company. I'm filled to overflowing with their sales crap and I don't have room for one more 8th grade level commercial selling some medication that they don't even bother to tell me what it's for but I should ask my Doctor if it's right for me. Screw them all. I'll watch movies or TV series on DVD. That said, end of rant and... "Get off my lawn."