Google has done it again and partnered this time with TiVo to dominate the marketplace.   The goal of this partnership is to show advertisers more accurate information on how many are actually watching television live or have pre-recorded and are skipping through the commercials. 

Google will provide a better data set for advertisers to work with, allowing them to plan their advertising campaigns around the ways that most people are watching the content.  Advertisers can use this data to understand which audiences and ads are most effective, which will more than likely lead to more relevant ads for viewers (addressable television). 

Although this model is very smart allowing advertisers to gain additional insight into the consumer it also has its drawbacks.  The problem that Google still has is that the inventory they are selling is not always quality.  Until they can reach critical mass with this product questionable inventory will always be an issue.  Also, it is impossible to know when people are actually in front of their TV’s when the DVR’s are on.  Nielsen estimates that 10% of DVR’s are never turned off, while 30% are on for 24 hours on any given day. 

Don’t get me wrong this is definitely a step in the right direction but with anything new out there it must be weighed and tested.