Google Patent App Hints at TV Ad Strategy

(MoneyWatch)  Two interesting points about Google popped up yesterday. The first, a story in Ad Age about Google saddling up with Dish TV to set up an ad delivery platform. Essentially, Google wants to get better demographic and consumer engagement numbers, while using the same bidding concept for TV ads that they've used for search ads. From Ad Age:

As it does with its AdWords search system, Google plans to sell spots based not only on price but on how well an ad performs. Better-quality advertising -- advertising the audience deems most relevant -- will be rewarded, as marketers will pay less for the same spot. Lower-quality advertising -- the ads deemed less relevant by consumers -- will acquire higher media bills.

There's a moment of confusion in the article though, noting:

Adding quality scoring is a natural evolution. The proxy for quality, Mr. Desai said, could take the form of "initial audience retained" -- a metric currently offered through the TV-ads system. He said there are three steps to getting its system ready to add an ad-quality metric: 1) create an accurate and timely measurement model; 2) decipher the quality signals; and 3) add those quality signals to the ad-buying auction. Right now, Google appears to be somewhere in between steps one and two and is moving deliberately...

It's true that right now the data is limited: Google runs ads in about 14 million homes that use the Dish Network. But not all of those homes can transmit second-by-second ratings data back to Google, as that requires "return path" technology. Google won't comment on exactly how many homes let it gather data, but a few TV research estimates have pegged the figure as slightly more than half.

Google also doesn't know the demographics of those people who have tuned out during an ad. Through a deal with Nielsen, it can get some demographic data, but for the most part, it can't tell exactly who is tuning out. If an advertiser is running a spot for men's deodorant, for example, and 20% of the people tune out halfway through but they're almost all women, that ad may be no less effective despite the drop off.

So how does Google plan to start getting more accurate data on demographics? Techdirt got a scoop today that may have the clue [emphasis added]:

"I don't want my GTV. Excerpts from a newly-published Google patent application for Targeted Video Advertising: [1] 'Users may be allowed to skip particular commercials, but required to watch or accept a set number of commercials in order to watch a program. The required number may be, for example, a set integer, such as 11 commercials.' [2] 'The system...may also require the user to fully watch at least four promotions before the program will continue.' [3] 'The profile includes some demographic information of the user, such as income, age, and gender. This information may be obtained when the user registers for the video service.' [4] 'A commercial with the interactive format is an advertisement that requires user interaction to be completed (e.g., a survey).' Yikes."

While it still may be a few years down the line (or the patent could simply be Google seeking to lock others out of the same game) Google could potentially develop an accurate measure of engagement to rival Nielsen, which has been on a bit of acquisition streak lately, sensing its own weakness online.