Not content with being the worlds' leading search engine and online advertising company, rumours abound that Google are soon to sign a deal with Dish Network, the US's second largest satellite TV company. The deal will allow Google to develop and deliver targeted ads across Dish's TV network and into homes across the United States.The news comes hot on the heels of a pilot project recently started by Google in Concord, California, to deliver ads to cable television subscribers. The project, in collaboration with Astound Broadband - a subsidiary of WaveDivision Holdings LLC - is not currently utilising targeted ads, but is seen merely as Google 'testing the water' for its television ambitions and may well highlight things to come in the future. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Google hoped to tailor cable television ads to specific audiences - essentially replicating their online ad service onto TV screens.
If the deal goes ahead, we may see Google purchase advertising slots in advance and then insert its own advertising, as supplied by its advertising clients, using the same structure as its deal with Astound. The end result would be undistinguishable from the current format of TV ad-breaks, other than the fact that Google will be the driving force behind the ads.
These latest projects suggest that Google may be well on the road to obtaining a foothold in the huge television advertising market. Dish is the US leader in HDTV and interactive TV programming, and such a collaboration might allow Google to deliver ads onto TV screens with the same efficiency as those which Google already distributes across the web. However, these TV ads will be targeted more closely to the content of the TV programming currently being viewed and on subjects more relevant to the viewer.
Google has never hidden the fact that it sees the area occupied by TV ads as a wilderness and, with the television advertising market in the U.S valued at around $55 billion, these developments may reap significant rewards for Google's ad revenue - currently estimated at around $10 billion from online ads alone.
However, there are likely several hurdles that need to be crossed before Google's goal of targeted TV ads can be reached, with probably the biggest being the issue of privacy. In order to successfully target ads, consumers may have to share information with Google to receive better targeted ads.
The prospect of a partnership with Dish, however, may be a notable benefit in helping Google achieve their aim. The interactive nature of Dish's network means that users already utilize keywords to search for viewable programming, choose programming themes and create customised TV guides - all of which are indicators of a viewer's watching habits and as such, might allow Dish and Google to obtain permission from users to utilise such information. Google would then be able to work with technology providers to help insert relevant ads into programming schedules.
If Google's project with Astound proves to be successful, it could open the doors for Google to approach other cable network providers with a view to similar schemes. Similarly, if the rumoured deal with Dish Network is signed, then other satellite TV networks may jump on the bandwagon - especially since the amount of money to be made from the venture will be by no means insignificant.
