TiVo to Measure Ad-Skipping 261
jaredmauch writes "USA Today is reporting that TiVo will measure how many users skip ads of roughly 20k random users. This follows Nielsen Ratings service providing individual commercial ratings. Overall this is expected to reduce the cost of advertisements on television and perhaps make them more on-topic? I'd consider providing feedback (thumbs-up/down) to ads if it'd make those that are no longer relevant to me go away." I'm kinda surprised they don't have this data already. I mean, weren't they able to track the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction a few years ago?
Whats the Motive? (Score:5, Interesting)
"During the initial rollout, TiVo will not provide personal, demographic data on the sample group."
And after this, where is this data going to go?
"Rogers declined to project how much revenue the new division might generate, although he says, "It's an important part of the overall model."
Oh I see. If they can proove that one ad is watched more than another (given demographics) commercial prices will go up/down?
How will they even DO this? (Score:3, Interesting)
"I'd consider providing feedback (thumbs-up/down)" (Score:4, Interesting)
Surely, if they helped TiVO become mainstream and omnipresent, they'd be able to target their advertisement dollars better, but until they do, they're only going to know about a bunch of geeks think about their ads, not necessarily the least useful cross-section of their viewers, but probably the least forgiving.
So why do they [the advertisers] fight TiVO every chance they get?
Actually... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:This won't take very long (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:This won't take very long (Score:2, Interesting)
ReplayTV (Score:2, Interesting)
The problem is, you actually do miss out when you don't see *any* commercials. Things like announcements of new series you might like, or two hour specials of a show you already watch. Not to mention I'd have no idea how to use HeadOn.
Let's break this down.... (Score:5, Interesting)
2. Ad agencies know how much less the ads are worth now and demand networks lower prices because they're delivering less.
3. Networks pull the leashes on their well paid congressional delegation to fix this with legislation.
3. If legislation doesn't work then they pay Tivo to disable skipping the commercial, or have a special code which drops the viewer out of fast forward at the beginning of each commercial block.
Is there any outcome of this that would be considered good? They're actually making MS Media Center look good. And driving me more and more towards building my own MythTV box.
Re:Whats the Motive? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A: Profit!!! TiVo wants/needs more of it. (Score:4, Interesting)
Not necessarily. Sure "White males aged 18-25" is a demographic, but so is "Regular viewers of Battlestar Galactica." Arguably, the latter is a more useful demographic to TV advertisers, and it doesn't require revealing personal information.
Of course, I have no doubts that TiVo and the scummy advertisers will look at it that way. They'll want to know age, gender, and how often you floss too, just because they're advertisers.
Re:A: Profit!!! TiVo wants/needs more of it. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:This won't take very long (Score:4, Interesting)
You pay $50 a month for "basic" cable and they still dump ads on you. They make you pay for stuff that is nothing but ads (QVC, MTV).
I have even heard ads on XM recently on the music channels. Sat radio was founded on a no-ad policy, but they are sneaking in.
This is why projects like mythtv are important. Open source PVR technology. Problem is, next generation HDMI / Blue Ray / HD DVD won't let you save DRM material to your HD (AFAIK). You will get the broadcast HD unencrypted, but the cable will not be recordable.
I am sure the pirates will think of something, but I want to be able to skip commercials if possible.
Re:This won't take very long (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:A: Profit!!! TiVo wants/needs more of it. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:counting how many skip ads (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:A: Profit!!! TiVo wants/needs more of it. (Score:3, Interesting)
When you live in a household with three people, 1 Male, 2 Females, of various ages and interests, agregating based on the house MIGHT make sense. Agregating based on the show watched DEFINATELY makes sense.
If my wife watches All My Children and decides to FF through the commercials, it means they are meaningless to her. If I watch Eureka (on Sci-Fi), and decide to watch the Station ID spots because they are new and interesting, and that gets me to watch a commericial or two (because I'm in a good mood and the commericals mesh), the system can draw inferences about the ads for the show, but now about who is watching what
Tivo and Advertisements... (Score:4, Interesting)
I was just reading an article about advertisers getting all bent out of shape because folks are skipping ads like crazy on their TiVo/DVR. Well, duh! They're skipping the commercials because they've gotten so annoyingly predominant -- it's nearly to the point where it feels that you're watching more commercials than scheduled program.
And you may be wondering what this is really about. Well, I just wanted to publish what I thought of as the next logical step in the DVR revolution. Advertisers will like it, and it wouldn't be that hard for the DVR people to code it up:
Abstract:
A method of delivering advertisements to a viewer of DVR-recorded media while the viewer is fast-forwarding or fast-rewinding through advertisements or the main video program.
Claim:
1) a system for temporarily reducing the viewing size of video playback during a fast-forward or fast-rewind viewing of a pre-recorded or cached video program or advertisement
2) a method of receiving encoded information within an advertisement, or main video program
3) a method of decoding the received information into:
3a) textual information, to be displayed to the viewer,
3b) linkage information, to be displayed as a shortcut, or hyperlink, in order to view more information,
3c) or, additional information such as (but not limited to) short musical phrases or small graphical icons
4) a system for overlaying text and graphics as received into the screen space vacated by claim 1.
Technical:
Advertisers and television execs are increasingly frustrated by the ability of a viewer to skip over their ads, reducing the take rate for said services. This patent would allow an advertiser to make sure that their message was still being seen by a "tivo-ised" audience, by simultaneously reducing the screen real-estate available to video playback during fast-forward, or fast-reverse; then displaying textual and graphical information into the newly-created blank space.
This would allow targeted advertisements within a broadcast program to appear while a user is fast-forwarding or fast-rewinding through the program (as they might in order to catch-up to where they had left off in a previous viewing). This would also allow an alternate method of viewing the intra-program advertisements during the so-called "ad-skip" fast-forward.
Well, I tried to draft it up like a patent. And now it's published. Really, it's the next logical step, and hopefully advertisers will come flocking to my door wanting to use my invention. And I'll be rich! Muahahah!
Re:A: Profit!!! TiVo wants/needs more of it. (Score:2, Interesting)
One thing to remember, we do remember the ads (Score:1, Interesting)
1. You have to actively pay attention when you fast forward to hit the show. This means mentally clicking off the product you are fast forwarding. Seperating show from commercial means actively engaging in the 2 seconds that 30 second commercial is whizzing by. So many are visiually dirven, that you get their jist, even if it is just the tag for the product.
2. Most people---and I did it in the pre-DVR days---spent the commercial breaks flipping around to other channels or checking out the guide, that's the price of our ADD culture. Some friends of mine who don't have a DVR literally mute or turn off the TV for two minutes when the break hits. TIVO users aren't flippers.
3. People with DVR's aren't really watching less TV per week, but they are watching more programs because they are skipping ads. This means more exposure and repetition of ads, therefore those crafty lil ads get seen more, not less.
The smart advertiser would make ads that embrace the fast forward TIVOs---more and longer graphics and tags. Hell, I keep waiting for the ad that is so slowed down it looks at normal speed at two arrows. The audio could even make fun of it and TIVO users.
People think they are beating the ad-driven system with TIVO. They're not, really, but we do have more time to watch more programs.
Re:Oh boy. (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway, I came across that tidbit a while ago and thought it relevant and interesting...
Ad profiling (Score:3, Interesting)