Here's How TV Is Fighting Back Against Facebook For Ad Dollars

Facebook Inc FB collects large amounts of data on each user and can leverage this information to offer marketers a unique ability to reach their target market directly.

In fact, spending on digital ads is expected to outpace spending on TV ads this year in the United States and the U.K., and this trend will occur worldwide very soon.

It's All About Engagement

So how are TV networks fighting back?

According to a report by Bloomberg, cable companies such as Comcast Corporation CMCSA are using new set-top box technology that allows viewers to watch web-style ads that can deliver relevant product messages based on age, demographics and interests.

Related Link: What's Driving TV Ad Spending Strength?

Bloomberg cited data from WPP's Group M, the world's largest buyer of ad space, which expects 60 million U.S. households to watch TV from these new set-top boxes.

Even though data show the coveted 18 to 24 demographic group watches fewer hours of live TV today than it did a few years ago, the total amount of TV watched seems to have stabilized at a high level. Also working in TVs favor: Marketers could waste more than $50 billion a year by 2025 on web ads that are never actually seen by human beings.

It is safer for a marketer to assume that if a TV is playing, there is a human watching. Bloomberg even suggested that TV is still the best way for companies to build a brand's identity and reach a mass audience at a quicker pace.