GET Real, Says GET Interactive

When there's a struggle to build revenue, someone inevitably steps up to fill the moneybags. While technology companies such as Vyyo (formerly the Terayon part) and RGB Networks work with TV-specific models to insert unavoidable advertising onto screens, others such as GET Interactive enter the space from the Web and mobile side of the equation.

GET has developed an advertising platform that it claims delivers real-time consumer shopping directly into any video content, starting with the Web and mobile and moving to IPTV. The company's technology is reminiscent of Wink - only deeper - in that it places an icon on the screen as an invitation for viewers to dig more deeply and "shop" through advertisers' wares on Web sites. When a viewer opts to "GET Stuff," the programming pauses and the Web site opens.

"We created this branding platform for all these embedded products, and if you want further information or are interested in purchasing, you can click on that panel, and it takes you through the destination and brands to choose at that juncture," said Rick Harrison, CEO of GET Interactive. "That scenario can easily be applied in an IPTV situation as well."

Harrison is aware of how intrusive some Web, mobile and, increasingly, TV advertising can be. The goal, he said, is to make things "as unobtrusive as possible," so GET uses an "opt-in advertising platform. No consumer sees any of the ads for these products that are embedded in the video content until they choose to shop it." Full Story »