Sky TV customers in the UK will soon be getting a new slew of adverts thanks to Sky’s new AdSmart features that will target each viewer with specific adverts, depending on your viewing profile and location.
Much like the way the Google ads work online, Sky viewers will start to see more specific adverts for products coming through their TV screens. BskyB will tell you this is in a bid to make adverts more engaging for customers by localising and choosing products to advertise that you may be interested in.
What this means is someone sitting in Somerset whilst watching the new series of Game Of Thrones on Sky One will see different content in the ad break to their friend sat in Newcastle watching the same channel and shows.
Sky states that “Households can be selected based on factors like age, location and life-stage, derived from a combination of Sky’s own customer data and information from consumer profiler experts such as Experian.”
Adverts will then be provided from the satellite signal to Sky+ HD set-top box owners which will meet each household’s profile. So if you have a young family expect toys and Holidays to be advertised or your Nan and grandpa may see Life insurance and Stair lifts!
See also: Sky Go app now available on (almost) all Android tablets
Sky says that: “By allowing advertisers to cherry-pick their audiences the power of TV can now be used to greater effect by existing advertisers, whilst becoming accessible for the first time to niche brands, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and location-specific advertisers.”
The AdSmart system requires advertisers to sign up and there has already been some major advertisers signed up, according to Sky. These include Tesco, Royal Bank of Scotland, Littlewoods, American Airlines, Audi and Citroen (the last 2 will be coming later in the year).
This looks like a new wave in more intuitive adverts, which some users may find a bit intrusive. However, with Sky TV just trying to keep up with Internet and streaming adverts online it’s a change we will all just have to accept.
For more information on Sky AdSmart checkout the website here.