Mountain View, California — In an attempt to make TV advertising more accountable — and to sell more of it through its online auction service – Google today announced it has made a license agreement with DVR company TiVo that enables the Internet search provider to integrate TiVo set-top box viewing data into its measurement of audiences for inventory sold through the Google TV Ads platform.
Yes, it is true that the two Silicon Valley companies are teaming up. The deal includes around 3.6 million subscribers to the universe of set-top boxes that Google TV Ads has to draw on to analyze the second-by-second TV viewing behavior of audiences. Google also has a deal with Dish Network and access to more than 13 million set-top boxes via the satellite carrier.
“Google TV Ads is centered on empowering advertisers to target and measure television advertising more effectively,” said Mike Steib, director of emerging platforms at Google. “This pact with TiVo will give advertisers access to even more anonymized viewer-ship data, making Google’s data set one of the best in the industry. Advertisers can use this data to understand which audiences and ads are most effective, which we think will ultimately lead to more relevant ads for viewers.”
Through the Google TV ads platform that commenced two years ago in which advertisers bid on prices for available commercial time, TiVo will give highly detailed data never previously reported to Google TV ad clients. Google also has a deal with Dish Network to garner viewer information that it shares with advertisers.
Information is the trite and trade of Google, which differentiates itself by its ability to tell advertisers how often their ads are seen. On the Internet, that is a relatively trivial trick to tally up “clicks” or “impressions.” But that is harder for television.
“In general, the feeling is that TV needs more accountability for the audience it is delivering to advertisers,” said Todd Juenger, vice president of TiVo’s 4-year-old audience research business, said in an interview. “Right now, TV is kind of fuzzy. It is such a powerful medium, but it suffers from a lack of tools to measure its impact. We help to provide those tools.”
Here is where the fright and loathing comes in. Google promises that advertisers pay only when their ads are seen. But TiVo lets viewers fast-forward through commercials. Now, with TiVo’s data, collected from millions of digital video recorders across the country, Google can tell exactly which of those commercials are being bypassed. If all the commercials are being skipped, the channel gets no money. It is easy to see why TV executives get heartburn over this.
New data furnished will comprise second-by-second viewing information on who is changing channels and when, who is fast-forwarding through commercials and anonymous information on viewers themselves. The aim is to align advertisers with viewers who would have a natural inclination to be interested in a product.
Ultimately, Google TV evaluates how many people saw the ad and then goes back to the advertiser with a price-tag on how much it should pay for a 30- or 60-second spot.
“Media choices that do not have good evaluation will suffer at the expense of those who do,” said Juenger. “We get this great data and find it extremely valuable.”
Google currently has a pact with EchoStar to sell ads on its Dish Network and collect similar data from the satellite TV company’s subscribers.
Among the TV outlets that are selling ad time through the Google TV Ads platform are a handful of NBC Universal-owned cablers, including MSNBC, CNBC, Syfy and Oxygen.