Google Is Testing Targeted TV Ads In Kansas City

In big news for dealerships that rely on television advertising, Google has announced a new local advertising service for Google Fiber that will make TV ads a lot more like Internet ads. By analyzing data from its set-top boxes, Google and advertisers will know exactly how many times a particular local ad has been watched in homes with the Google Fiber service. This type of information has never been available for TV ads before, and it could truly be a game changer for the future of television marketing.

The targeting aspect of this initiative marks a big change as well. Google will now be able to use certain viewer data, such as what show someone is watching or what shows they’ve watched in the past, to target ads for maximum effect. It seems these ads will be able to be fine-tuned by location, so that viewers in different areas will see ads that are specifically relevant to where they are. Another important aspect of this announcement is that advertisers will be able to stop showing an ad to a specific household once they have seen it a certain number of times.

This service is launching in Kansas City as a limited trial, and it may expand to Google Fiber’s other launch cities at some point soon.

Traditionally, advertisers have had to estimate the reach of their TV commercials based on services such as Nielsen ratings, and targeting abilities have been limited to being based on specific shows, as opposed to specific viewers. Google’s announcement presents the possibility of a radically different future, where advertisers can run television ads in a similar way to Internet ads.

“Fiber TV ads will be digitally delivered in real-time and can be matched based on geography, the type of program being shown (sports, news, etc.), or viewing history,” explained Google in a blog post. “Like digital ads, advertisers will only pay for ads that have been shown, and can limit the number of times an ad is shown to a given TV. We’re excited to see how this test progresses, and we’re looking forward to hearing from local businesses and viewers along the way.”

Another amazing aspect of Google’s offering is the fact these ads will show on both live TV and DVRed programs. So, if a viewer saves a program and watches it a few days later, an ad that is highly relevant to the time they’re watching it will be shown, as opposed to an ad that has become less relevant by that time.

What about privacy concerns?

Although Google explains that viewers can opt out of having their viewing history used for this purpose, there will almost certainly be privacy concerns raised by some consumers. According to Pew Research, 64 percent of Americans feel the government should be doing more to regulate how advertisers use their personal information. The idea of Google and advertisers having access to people’s viewing history, and will use that to serve them targeted ads, may take some getting used to by the general public, and the possibility for negative backlash is certainly there. However, this concept is already prevalent on the Internet, and it will be interesting to see how Google will present its new service to the general population if it rolls out widely at some point in the future.

For dealerships, Google’s new ad service opens up a world of possibilities for making television ad campaigns far more effective with a greatly increased level of targeting abilities. Although it’s limited to Kansas City for now, it will be very interesting to see whether or not the service will be launched more expansively in the future. Will viewers be willing to accept the gathering of their personal television watching data? Or will the majority of people opt out of having their history tracked, thereby making the service less effective for advertisers?