Project Canoe....A Google Ad Buster?

Project Canoe an effort by all six major cable companies in the U.S. to deliver targeted TV ads to viewers through their set-top boxes.

Collectively, the cable companies will initially put about $150 million behind the effort in order to build a national service that can sell targeted advertising across all six cable systems (NYTimes)

The cable companies may control the set-top boxes, but they only collectively control about $5 billion of the $70 billion spent each year on TV ads. Most of those are local spots. With better ad targeting through Project Canoe the cable companies hope to triple their take to $15 billion. But that may be wishful thinking.

The Pondering Primate thinks The Next Google is able to collect data, second-by-second, from all services/devices connected to the broadband pipe and deliver relevant advertising to ANY display.

Do you know who does that now?

A hint (3/11/2008)

"we provide customizable data and analytic tools to cable operators and programming networks, now manages more than 36 billion transactions from more than 45 million set-top boxes, 35,000 movie screens and 10,000 home-video locations across North America and other countries around the world. It said it now processes more transactions annually than credit-card giant American Express".

To be able to deliver a targeted ad on ANY Internet enabled device...that's The Next Google