Remember the advertising in Minority Report?

[c9]

What Google wants to do ... is SERVE EVERY TV COMMERCIAL ON THE PLANET because only they will be able to do it efficiently. Only they will have the database that converts those IP addresses into sales leads, only they will have the servers and disk space close enough to the viewers to feed the ads. Only Google will have the chops to run a constant, real-time auction for the next ad every consumer is about to see, and then serve that ad at the moment the program goes to commercial.

Suddenly, everybody can (and, really, must) advertise on TV, because it'll be so specific...and so dynamic. If you start shopping for a new WiFi access point in the morning, Google will know, and that night when you watch Two and a Half Men, your ads will be from D-Link, Linksys and Belkin. And, further, they'll know that an intelligent buyer lives at your IP, so your ads won't show you a hot model demonstrating how they're plug-and-play, but will instead feature a quick recommendation from the SveaSoft guy about which AP's the best one for hotrodding.

From Bob Cringely's latest column. Spooky. I highly recommend his columns, BTW, for knowing what the future holds in the technology arena.

Comments

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

Or not... didn't he predict the "Google Box"? The one both WalMart and Google said didn't and wouldn't exist?

Bob Cringely is smart, but he's seriously blinded by Google. I'm not saying that *anything* he predicts is wrong... I'm just saying some of it is so far out there it probably hasn't even occurred to Google yet.

[c9.livejournal.com]

He's predicted the cube, which cannot be described as a PC, more as a network appliance. He's also predicted the shipping container, which is really cool, especially for the third world potential.

I think Google and WalMart were explicitly denying that "a Google PC would be released at CES." There's a lot of wiggle room in that.

[socalledeconomy.livejournal.com]

Maybe then I won't have to sit through douche commercials asking me if I sometimes feel not-so-fresh. Even if I did, I wouldn't want my ass smelling like vinegar or a summer's field.

[cap-hill-latte.livejournal.com]

I'm not necessarily sure that this is a bad thing. I’d much rather see a hot guy model pitching a product I may actually buy than a naked women telling me that I no one will love me unless I drink a certain brand of flavoured malt beverage. I’ll start worrying when advertising starts targeting my neuroses.

Though, targeted advertising is interesting because it means that I’m exposed more and more to products that are already on my radar, and less and less to products that I wouldn’t think of buying.* I’ve all but stopped buying makeup now since I stopped reading the traditional woman’s magazines.** Not because I’m anti-makeup, but because I rarely see anything that suggests I should buy some.

In any event, I’ll have the (now illegal) commercial skip features of my Replay to keep me safe for the near future until broadcasters find a way to work around it. Or congress makes it illegal to own one.

*Cross targeted ads being the exception. “Our market research shows that people who buy X also buy Y, etc...

**Not because I’m boycotting their messages or anything, but because I find Dwell, The Atlantic and GQ far more interesting.