TiVo announced this week that it will add a new feature to its set-top boxes, called TiVo Product Watch, which will let users seek out ads relavant to products they are actively searching for.
TiVo's 4.4 million subscribers will be able to make search lists and select advertising content from five different product categories. TiVo will then do its thing, recording any ads that relate to the list the user made and storing them in the "Now Playing" list.
Users will also be able to create lists based on their favorite brands, similar to the existing "search by actor" feature. If "gas" was typed in to the search field, users would never have to fear missing an ad for Exxon, BP, or Gas-X.
While being pitched as a "consumer feature," Product Watch is really targeted toward advertisers. TiVo hopes to entice companies that want to connect deeply with an interested audience. At launch, General Motors, Sony Pictures, Lending Tree, and Kraft Foods will be on board as "premium advertisers."
"Bringing to market the innovative TiVo Product Watch solution is another powerful example of TiVo's ability to lead the industry and distinguish the TiVo service from generic DVRs in the marketplace," said Tom Rogers, president and CEO of TiVo, in a statement.
"We are pleased to launch TiVo Product Watch with more than 100 participating brands," added Davina Kent, vice president of national advertising sales. "Delivering informative and entertaining advertising content to consumers that have already expressed an interest in a brand or category is another important and valuable step forward in our efforts to help our advertising partners reach consumers that are 'In Market.'"
TiVo Product Watch is one way TiVo is trying to combat the notion that it, and DVRs in general, are ad-unfriendly. Television viewers using DVRs are able to fast-forward past advertisements, a fact that has the TV industry scrambling to make up dwindling TV ad revenues. Last year, NBC had $900 million less in ad revenue than the year before, and the trend isn't going to reverse anytime soon.
In Sunday's New York Times, Josh Bernoff, a principal analyst at Forrester Research, said that "next year, you'll see significant decline in TV ad spending as a result of digital video recorders."
The Times story also mentioned a future DVR feature that was recently patented by Royal Philips Electronics. The new patent is for a DVR feature that would disable the user from being able to zip through commercials. Users would still have the option of zipping through commercials--by paying a premium fee.
So enjoy free, ad-free TV while you can, because the marketers are getting smarter.
Comments (9)
oh yeah JuTin_Man they already have comercails on dvds 99% of the time you allowed to not have to watch them
that be neat feature cause now you can try find the adds you want ..you know their few you like watching ...but as far as not allowing us to fast forward through commercials that better have really nice features that people will look over the fact that they are forced to watch commercials or pay more money ..NOONE and i mean no one will buy the dvr maybe a few but we buy dvrs and vcrs so we can record our favorite shows and fast foward through the commercials..plus i sure some how that that no constitutional to not be able to watch our recorded shows the way we want..i pray Tivo never does that cause they will lose alot of loyal members i hope they let us get oldschool commercials in the search i love to see some of the ones from the 80's ....WHERE'S THE BEEF? ...I miss her may she rest in peace..same goes for dave....incase no one knows where that from that whendy's commercials..little old lady run around town yelling that..it was hilarusmoreless
Whoever is going to buy a DVR which can't zip through commercial breaks?
don't tell those greedy ad execs that I'm cancelling tivo (when and if they do that) in order to simply watch my shows on DVD from Netflix... unless they start putting commercials in DVDs...
I alway figured that the ads at the bottom of the screen durring shows were a way to get around didgital recorders.<br />
By the way, what's with the "Related Shows" listed at the side of this article? They have nothing to do with it.
What the heck is this for? Nobody in their right mine will ever do this and the reason is that people don't like ads while they are watching their shows that they like.
ADVERTS ARE THE DEVIL<br />
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also<br />
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REALITY TV IS THE DEVIL
That is the stupidiest thing that I have ever heard. I really doubt that anyone is actually going to type in brands that they want to see commercials of.
this is crap,plain crap!!!!