Advertising is a wonderful thing in the right context, but what about when we’re in the midst of watching our favourite TV shows? We at The Practice were interested to hear news on how in-programme ads might soon be hitting our screens…

TV video ads generated a staggering $173 billion last year, showing viewers are responsive to this type of marketing. However, with people preferring to view content online via desktop, tablet or smartphone, we’re seeing a decline in actual TV viewing itself. But now, news has emerged that TV networks may soon be able to include interactive advertisements within shows themselves, featuring alerts to tune into a certain show, branded content, and upcoming event promos. The interactive part of this will see viewers prompted with questions for instance, or with a poll or fact relating to the show they’re watching, which may be branded too.

The company behind this new technology, Watchwith, argued that this type of advertising shouldn’t be a turn off, as viewers are familiar with being presented with in-program features on YouTube, for instance. Whether this be call to action pop ups such as “Subscribe”, or “Suggested videos”, viewers have been naturally exposed to such promotional content for a while. Relevant ads will be displayed based on meta data, so information about the viewer using Automatic Content Recognition capabilities within their smart TVs. Watchwith CEO Zane Vella stated that, “the native targeting potential of in-program ads- meaning ads that are relevant to both the program context and to a specific viewer profile, can truly be a value-add to the viewer”. And when compared to the usual ad breaks in between shows which can last up to 5 minutes, we can’t foresee a huge amount of backlash with this new format.

However, we can’t ignore the growing trend in the number of viewers using ad blockers, for instance. In fact just last week, Apple included ad-blocking software as part of its iOS9 release, meaning both iPhone and iPad users would be able to stop ads appearing on their web pages. And where video is concerned, there’s clearly a demand for users to opt out of seeing ads here too- recent figures show that 81% of US Internet users regularly put video adverts on mute. This is also evident by news this week that Google will soon be launching a new ad-free YouTube video service at the end of October, named YouTube Red. The new channel will be subscription-based, with a $10 monthly fee charged to those who want to watch videos without ads, and these users will also be allowed use of YouTube’s new music service, YouTube Music Key. And to further address the worrying trend advertisers are faced with, video ad tech company Unruly has responded with the launch of a new space at its New York Offices, entitled Future Video Lab. This will aim to provide brands and agencies with insights into all-things video, such as ad targeting and distribution strategies, and customized real time data.

What do you think about being shown in-program ads in future? Do you think they will be a lucrative feature for marketers? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.