What's Google Doing In Kansas City Now?

Last Friday, Google Inc GOOGL GOOG announced that it will begin to test local ads with mobile-like ad-targeting for its Fiber TV service in Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO. Customers not willing to have their television viewing habits tracked will have to opt out – here are the instructions to do it.

The targeted ads will show during existing ad breaks, along with national ads, on live TV and DVR-recorded programs, the company explained in a forum post. “Fiber TV ads will be digitally delivered in real time and can be matched based on geography, the type of program being shown (eg, sports or news), or viewing history.”

As for businesses, they will only pay for ads that have been shown, same as they do with digital ads. The advertisers will be able to decide how many times their publicity is shown at a given TV.

Google assured that they will not collect information (for advertising purposes) from those users who have opted out of the program.

How Does It Work?

In its site, Google explains how targeted ads will work: “For example, an advertiser that advertises on football games may want to deliver an ad to households that regularly view football games, even when they are viewing other programming. Interest-based ads are based on shows you watch on Fiber TV. They are never based on or delivered to content that's rated as children's content (…) Fiber TV ads can be matched based on geography, the type of program being shown (for example, sports or news), or viewing history.”