October 27, 2011

BigBand Jumps Into Targeted IPTV Advertising

In what’s it’s characterizing as an industry first, BigBand Networks Inc. now is offering an IP-based targeted advertising application. Operators using the app reportedly can increase advertising revenue generated from live TV that is delivered to both set-top boxes and IP-connected devices.

With its patented virtual zoning technique, BigBand says it created a method for digital-TV service providers to deliver ads based on targeting criteria most attractive to an advertiser. Ads can be sent to traditional ad zones, to groups of devices based on demographics or to geographic areas down to zip+4 codes.

“Technical solutions that allow operators to create advertising inventory from advanced TV and IP-based systems are important elements to sustain and grow company revenues in today’s splintering TV ad market,” comments Heather Way, research analyst at Parks Associates. “Virtual zoning is a practical transition from traditional geographic boundary targeting providing a high degree of flexibility for service providers to refine TV addressability while increasing the value proposition for advertisers.”

Featuring the BigBand Media Services Platform (MSP), this network-based app allows ad delivery to be verified by the service provider’s network in a manner consistent with today’s measurement, familiar to advertisers and ad agencies. The targeted-advertising app integrates with existing back-office systems and is the first dynamic ad insertion for multicast IPTV with virtual zoning, BigBand notes, adding, “The application dramatically reduces the bandwidth necessary to deliver both zoned and targeted advertising.”

According to John Reister, vice president and chief architect/IPTV at BigBand Networks, “Service providers are in a unique position to expand the critical role they play in delivering more personalized advertising for the benefit of consumers, advertisers and content providers while increasing their bottom line. The MSP is the powerhouse multi-screen platform delivering the new capabilities and reducing the complexity for operators to expand their advertising business.”