mesiah

September 17, 2009 at 1:38am

Tivo has been doing this for a few years now. I know some people are going to get riled up over it, but really its not a big deal. During commercial breaks, some commercials have a box that pops up stating that if you would like additional information, push a certain button. If you don't care about the product, just ignore it, and when the commercial is over, it goes away. I can attest that it has never hindered my viewing experience, and there have actually been a couple commercials for products that interested me. I clicked the button, got to read a short thing about the product, and accepted to have a free brochure mailed to my billing address. TiVo also uses the service from time to time on ads for upcoming tv shows. Say, A commercial for a new show comes on, and on the screen the little box will pop up, but instead of "for more information" it says "To record this show" You click the button and it gives you recording options for the show that was advertised, overall, very convenient. I see it as a win win win. Its a win for the user because its non obtrusive yet provides a convenient service. Its a win for the company advertising because they can get additional information out to people who are interested without wasting energy / resources on those who are not, and its a win for the cable company / TiVo because they make extra money on ad revenue.