TiVo Gives Marketers Pause

A new advertising product from TiVo addresses advertisers' concern that TV viewers skip over commercials.

As you might imagine, the offering works by displaying ads while programming is paused. Among the first advertisers to take advantage of it are Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Mercedes-Benz USA. A campaign for the entertainment company began today for the DVD and Blu-Ray release of Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hears a Who." In the New Year the luxury auto manufacturer plans to target football viewers with a campaign for its GLK SUV. Marketers can target ads to a show, genre or keyword.

The pause menu is linked to TiVo's Swivel Search feature, which the company claims "creates value for viewers and effectiveness for advertisers."