I just finished reading an International Herald Tribune article regarding IPTV that compelled me to put down a few more thoughts on the converging media channels. This article, along with Bill Gates interview on this morning’s Today show on NBC both paint a consistent picture of IP-based interactive television coming sooner than we may all think. But are we ready? Companies like mine work feverishly to resolve the conflict between a businesses need for commerce and a user’s need for privacy. Personalization, if done correctly can deliver a great user experience and strong enterprise profits. If done incorrectly it could set initiatives such as IPTV and mobile marketing back a few years.
But who will do it correctly? Companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Live Search are much further ahead in being able to deliver an advertising model that supports interactivity than the broadcast and cable networks. It remains to be seen if they can get the personalization factor right, so as to not be viewed as invading viewer privacy. They will also need to address the issues of professional content generation. This is the area where the networks have a huge lead. Personally, I think the winner will be a merged television/Portal organization – the only way to overcome the chicken & egg dilemma.
But as the song goes, “Money makes the world go ‘round.” Both broadcast TV and the Web are ad-supported content channels. No ads – no professional content. My money’s on the best ad engine and ad sales network that does personalization right. Doing it wrong could be incredibly damaging to the entire industry. So while money may, indeed, make the world go around, if personalized, interactive advertising ever makes me feel “uncomfortable” in my living room, I’m blocking that channel.
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