Apr 10
7
Is the Auction Model for Network Ads Viable?
Google TV has been using an auction model for its advertisers since the media channel existed, to what their representatives say has been rousing success (Google does not release sales information for the service, but they also intend to keep using the model for the foreseeable future, which is a pretty good indicator).
But does the auction model apply once you get offline?
Julie Roehm thought so in 2005, when she first proposed the concept of an online auction for offline network advertising slots. The concept never caught on among either broadcast or cable networks, but there is beginning to be buzz as Google proves the model has merit, at least in the online market. It remains to be seen who’s willing to take the risk offline.
The tester model may be Direct Response TV, which is making a revival even in prime-time advertising slots that were previously never available to those campaigns. Direct Response relies more heavily on meeting the right audience at the right time, and ad buyers for DRTV prefer to make their bids as late in the game as possible.
This makes the shift to an auction significantly easier, since the bidding is already time-based, and it may even turn the tide in the networks’ favor, since it will be more difficult for ad buyers to get slots that others don’t know exist yet.
The potential is there. So far, though, networks remain skeptical about the value of the auction for television ad selling.
