Do you work in local TV ads sales? You might want to polish up your resume and send it to Google. According to WSJ.com (subscription required), Google is buying giant blocks of local TV advertising at discounted rates and auctioning off the time to the highest bidder online. They are calling the program Google TV Ads.
Google’s current partners in this endeavor are EchoStar and Astound Cable (a unit of WaveDivision Holdings LLC) and they are using Concord, California as a trial area. Astound Cable has 25k subscribers in Concord… just enough to test the computer and network infrastructure needed to broker and deliver commercials to cable systems more widely.
The entire process will be completely automated using a video version of Google’s highly successful AdWords reporting center — from planning the campaign to uploading and serving the ad to reporting on its effectiveness. The flexibility of this model also allows advertisers to make changes to their campaigns as often and as quickly as they like. Google has even made a multi-year deal with Nielson giving them access to ratings data. This is the first time that advertisers and agencies will have this level of detailed measurement available in a single place and at such a large scale. Additional details of the agreement were not disclosed.
“This is an important, strategic relationship for both companies and a great fit,” said David Calhoun, Chairman and CEO of The Nielsen Company. “We are pleased that Google looked to Nielsen to provide the demographic data that is so critical to the clients of its TV advertising platform. The relationship with Google – which we expect will expand significantly in the months ahead – is a prime example of the ways Nielsen is embracing new technologies, platforms and relationships worldwide to serve clients more completely, to provide companies with its insights and to help expand the base of potential advertisers everywhere.”
Google has registered several domains to support this program including googletv.com and googlehdtv.net. Before Google launches new services, they tend to register Google
So what’s Google’s longterm plan for the television industry? Do they plan creating their own branded digital television DVR / satellite service? Garett Rogers from ZDnet thinks so. He posted these ideas on his blog.
Imagine the possibilities… You are watching Google Satellite TV through your “internet ready” Google DVR:
You receive a new Gmail and it pops up automatically on your TV - A ticker at the top of the screen shows recent news that interests you… or better yet, it shows new items from my Google Reader!
- A more personalized TV experience which will serve up relevant commercials on commercial breaks based on your interests.
If you are an advertiser, you can buy an ad and participate in the Concord trial here: https://google.com/adwords/tvads/
Frank Wilson is a retired teacher with over 30 years of combined experience in the education, small business technology, and real estate business. He now blogs as a hobby and spends most days tinkering with old computers. Wilson is passionate about tech, enjoys fishing, and loves drinking beer.
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