Cable's Answer To Online's Ad Success: Targeting

DEBORAH YAO

WASHINGTON (AP) — You're watching Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show," when suddenly you see a commercial for the Mustang convertible you've been eyeing — with a special promotion from Ford, which knows you just ended your car lease.

A button pops up on the screen. You click it with the remote and are asked whether you want more information about the car. You respond "yes." Days later, an information packet arrives at your home, the address on file with your cable company.

This is the future of cable TV advertising: personal and targeted.

Cable TV operators are taking a page from online advertising behemoths like Google Inc. to bring these so-called "addressable" ads onto the television.

"It hasn't really been done on TV before," said Mike Eason, chief data officer of Canoe Ventures, a group formed by the nation's six largest cable operators to launch targeted and interactive ads on a national platform starting this summer.

They're betting they can even one-up online ads because they also offer a full-screen experience — a car commercial plays much better on your TV than on your PC. As such, they hope to charge advertisers more.