Have you ever shopped for something on Amazon and, regardless of whether you purchased the product or not, you keep seeing an Amazon ad for the same item on different sites — whether news websites or even social media outlets like Facebook?
Well, as pesky — not to mention, creepy — as those targeted Internet ads are, get used to them. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that AT&T will be using similar targeted ads for television, partnering with an ad company called Videology to deliver them.
According to the publication, AT&T says companies will be allowed to buy ads and target people on linear TV in 26 million homes.
"This morning at the Videology 'Full Frontal' Upfront event, AT&T AdWorks announced the launch of our Video Inventory PlatformTM (VIP) — an automated, self-service private marketplace for our data-optimized linear TV ad inventory," AT&T announced on its website Thursday. "This Web-based user interface makes targeting and planning TV advertising simple for advertisers and agencies."
While Internet surfers can search for an item on Amazon, only to see an ad for the same product on a different site within seconds, this AT&T/Videology partnership's technology will work slightly different in the sense that these ads will be placed within TV shows ahead of time using data learned about customers.
"What we've heard in the marketplace [regarding other "programmatic TV" offerings] is that you don't know where your ads are going to run and there is limited access to quality ad inventory," Jason Brown, vice president of national advertising sales at AT&T AdWorks, told the Journal. "This solves for both of these things."
Added Videology chief executive Scott Ferber: "What is unique about this is that we're talking about premium, reserved, upfront and scatter-based TV ad inventory. That's very different than what's been available historically. This is aimed at 99 percent of the ad money that is out there."
Do you like the idea about targeted ads hitting your TV, or does just the thought of them make you sick?
