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Invidi Technologies Corp. said it has
been awarded a number of patents that give it the ability to license to
others technology that delivers specific ads to particular households or
viewers, as well as ascertains the response of the viewers who see them.
It's a sign that the long, sometimes grinding quest to deliver so-called
addressable advertising is moving forward.
"Our technology is not limited to just cable television," said Bruce
Andeson, chief technology officer at Invidi. "The patent is broad enough
to encompass video on cellphones to regular television viewing to viewing
on your computer." No matter how video is viewed in the future, he
suggested, "the intellectual property would come into play."
The quest to make addressable advertising available for mass marketers has
been glacial in its progress, but Invidi's patents suggest the
infrastructure for a marketplace in the technology is gradually starting
to form. Other entities also help marketers tweak ads for specific
audiences, whether they are centered around a geographic location or age
or gender demographic. But because delivering such advertising hinges on
having a set-top box as the final link to the consumer, and because most
cable, satellite and telecommunications video systems are built
differently from one another, it has been difficult to assemble an
efficient way for, say, Procter & Gamble to reach the millions of diaper
consumers it needs.
Over time, said David Downey, president-CEO of Invidi, the company hopes
to "target every potential view of every potential [commercial] break."
Google recently took a stake in the company, joining WPP's Group M on the
roster of investors. Experian, a company that helps analyze consumer
habits and purchases, also took a stake in Invidi late last month and
formed a partnership under which the two will help advertisers measure the
effects of television ad campaigns, among other efforts.
One adviser to the company believes the patents could prompt big
TV-industry players, such as cable-service providers, to adopt Invidi's
technology as part of their efforts to make addressable advertising
available to marketers.
"The Comcasts of the world are so powerful, they don't really let startups
flourish in their space," said Tracey Scheppach, senior VP-innovations
director at Publicis Groupe's SMGX. "It seems to me the only way you can
be taken seriously is to go after the patent protection." Satellite
providers are already making addressable ads available in wider fashion,
she added, so the big cable providers have some motivation for looking
more deeply into addressable possibilities. "That's going to force the
hand of the rest of the ecosystem, she said.
Invidi already licenses intellectual property to customers and partners,
said Mr. Downery, and the company is "willing to consider license
arrangements with other industry players under the right circumstances."
Source: AdAge, 06/07/2010 |