The TV stations may not have a choice when it comes to what FIM can do, but ad clients can take business somewhere else if this turns out badly.

I want to know more about it. If I live in one city and visit another’s site, which one’s ads will I get? Does this geo-target IP addresses or is it based on site content only?

Stupidity is being polite.

“…There is a month or two rollout schedule following a single (to-be-determined) station beta period (probably one of the O&O’s).”

FIM is notoriously late and/or absent on most projects they set out to launch for the O&Os. Send the press release out when it’s live and can be demo’d.

To the main string here…wholeheartedly agree with the context question. Small advertisers are just that, and they need to be as efficient as possible- small mistakes cost them dearly. “Locally” targeted ads are relevant for advertisers with a large local trading area, but I suspect these programs will all be subject to the same questions that stump local digital sellers calling on small local advertisers: “Why would I buy this instead of Google key words?”

And, as tdc has pointed-out, I’m all the time seeing display ads which are obviously using my IP address to “personalize” the copy by naming the closest big city.

why couldn’t a local car dealer/ furniture company/ window and siding contractor/ law firm/ and countless other businesses do this on a smaller scale? even at the affiliate level?

no reason i can think of.

not if the keywords include YOUR hometown… then it can be contextually correct on ANY property, even a global one.

within the last hour i was served a bank of america display ad on BOTH huffingtonpost AND a certain news outlet in denver. in case you didn’t know, bank of america just took over all the lasalle bank branches in michigan TODAY. the display ad BOLDLY pointed this out to me, too.

evidently some guys still need to make the disconnect between local ads & local content.

It just seems that this will potentially hurt the job security of some AE’s in smaller markets. If advertisers can use this model cheaper instead of dealing with an AE, I’m sure they will… Especially those greedy agencies that will do anything to cut their overhead cost.

Also, I have been in contact with someone at FIM that said bypassing the salesperson is false; the article is wrong. There is a month or two rollout schedule following a single (to-be-determined) station beta period (probably one of the O&O’s).

“Content may be King, but Context is Queen”.

So no, it doesn’t cannabalize existing sales initiatives, but expands the client base.

The trick here is providing what I call “context.” You buy search ads because people are looking for that keyword combination — a high level of context which drives a decent number of clicks. But some random page on a TV website has low context and therefore low value for smaller advertisers who are looking for clicks (instead of branding.)

That’s why local media has to create products that increase context for advertisers.