Media Center Gets First Taste of Interactive Advertising

re: Media Center Gets First Taste of Interactive Advertising

chrisl — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:09:51 GMT

Well, part of the idea is that Media Center will grow and advertising in such a space would grow with it.

I think that will we see the Internet TV plug-in grow into more of a platform for web video within Media Center. Think about something like Hulu.com integrated into Media Center.

I'd also note that Internet TV is still in beta, which implies Microsoft isn't done with it yet. Considering the content comes from existing MSN Video library, I think this is more of a proof of concept to show content owners what can be done so they can get more of them onboard.

re: Media Center Gets First Taste of Interactive Advertising

Karl — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:52:14 GMT

Valid point, but I see it as a chicken or the egg proposition. Why advertise somewhere where very few will seek it out, even out of the small percentage of the population of the US that uses Media Center? And, not a sarcastic, rhetorical question cause I honestly don't know, but does Comcrap require you to watch ads before you watch something on VOD?

Had you not said anything, I never would have known about this, because I operate under the impression that Internet TV is a waste of space. For some unknown reason, my brother still doesn't have Internet TV on his start menu.

Noticed after I posted that the picture you've got posted of the Infinity ad has button on it to visit infinity.com. Maybe its just me, but it doesn't do anything. WTF?

re: Media Center Gets First Taste of Interactive Advertising

chrisl — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:22:24 GMT

Karl - What are you missing is that to get more content, Microsoft has to offer advertising methods for the owners. This is a perfect way to get more content!

I don't think the content is that bad, there are several concerts (I believe over a dozen) from names you actually know, there are spots clips, news, content from major sources, etc. The way to build on this is to get advertising down, else your always going to be stuck with less content.

re: Media Center Gets First Taste of Interactive Advertising

Karl — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:18:54 GMT

The only reason this isn't obtrusive is because there is NO viable content on internet tv besides Arrested Development. Everything else falls into one of 3 categories:

1. Unviable Content (Viral videos from MSN? Are you kidding? Get Yougle working 100% on my 360)

2. News (I can get it from a variety of sources, MS needs give me a reason to get it there)

3. Advertising (yes, movie trailers and music videos ARE advertising.)

I had hope for Internet TV when it was announced, but they've left it to twist in the wind. In order to attract advertisers, you need to attract eyeballs; In order to attract eyeballs, you need to have content someone wants to watch.

In its current incarnation, this will be completely ineffective. Now if I could launch a product page in a web browser and make a purchase on my PC by clicking on my Xbox remote, or rent a movie from Marketplace directly from one of these ads, that'd be innovative. MS already holds patents on similar technology, why is there still a disconnect between television advertising and direct sales in this day and age? Don't tell me where I can buy it, sell it to me directly.

Now, I realize that I'm all over the place on this - so I'll just close by saying that the second it becomes obtrusive (say by sticking one of these ads in before my daughter watches recorded TV thats been run through lifextender) is the second I bolt for Sage or BeyondTV.

re: Media Center Gets First Taste of Interactive Advertising

digitalfreak — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:16:59 GMT

Ian - you aren't missing much.

Media Center Gets First Taste of Interactive Advertising - Chris Lanier's Blog

Ian Dixon's Blog — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:43:52 GMT

While we wait for the Internet TV plug in to be made available for countries outside of the USA Microsoft