Television

Google TV Ads is a flexible, all-digital system for buying more accountable and measurable TV advertising. Using the familiar AdWords interface, you can launch a TV advertising campaign in minutes.

Simply log in to the Ad Creation Marketplace, select a specialist, and create an ad to use in your TV campaign. We'll reimburse the cost of creating your ad through our Ad Creation Marketplace, up to $2,000. You'll receive a credit in your Google TV Ads advertising account after it airs.

Americans pile DVD players, video game machines, surround sound amplifiers, TiVo recorders, and cable or satellite boxes under their televisions, but there is only so much space to stack them. (And there are only so many remote controls that people will tolerate). The company that can combine many of those services into one single box can control the living room, and reap the financial rewards.

Cisco seems to be showing up in all kinds of entertainment mediums, and is bringing digital signage to the forefront when advertising or doing product placement in those mediums. In addition to the digital signage placement in the video game Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Cisco is also working closely with major networks such as CBS, FOX and NBC to integrate its products into TV shows, such as Heroes and CSI.

With a new online TV portal seeming to spring up every fortnight, advertisers may wonder where they'll get the biggest bang for their buck. While it may be a small site with a niche focus, if you want to rack up the big numbers, you should stick with reality. According to Hitwise, seven of the top 10 television web properties -- including all of the top five -- feature so-called reality shows. American Idol is the champ, with Dancing With The Stars enjoying a strong second place standing. Those frequent reminders to log in and vote must work pretty well.

Writing for Adotas, Meir Zohar writes, "As we approach times of uncertainty in 2008, it's also important for us to evaluate our behavior. Are we committing budgets to campaigns without testing our efforts? Are we developing social networking campaigns which do not engage our prospects just to say that we're doing ‘something' social? Are we running elusive video-branding campaigns with repurposed TV commercials?" Behavioral targeting, he suggests, may be the cure.

In an addressable advertising trial in Huntsville, Alabama, Comcast Cable and Starcom have shown that relevant ads can keep viewers from fleeing commercials. Households that received specific ads based on demographic data changed channels 38 percent less often than the rest of the viewing audience. Viewers don't hate advertising ... they hate irrelevant advertising.

In a study of advertising's impact on consumer packaged goods sales, Google has found that online video works as well as TV. 30-second spots for drinks, snacks, and skin care were run on television, on YouTube, and embedded in other online content. All performed roughly the same, with an edge to embedded online video ads for influencing purchase intent. And that's just with repurposed content.