Targeted advertising

TiVo probably started the slow-death process of the advertising model as we know it today.

The current advertising model does not work any more. The kind of in-your-face advertising is not only ineffective, but also sometimes turns people off. TiVo has given us a tool to revolt against such an advertising regime.

The Ad industry should think really hard and starts to change its practice. The era of targeted advertising is coming, and the ad industry needs to adjust to it in order to survive. The media companies that rely on ad revenue also need to readjust to survive.

They should learn from the success of an old advertising model, the Yellow Pages, and the new Internet model, Google. When people open the Yellow Pages, they are searching for useful information. Advertising in that context is targeted to a real need, and provides useful information and value. When people type in "travel" in google search, they expect to see advertisements about travel services. That is the kind of advertising that people want.

The old force-feeding advertising is dying.