TiVo buying TRA for $20 million

TiVo, developer of the DVR, will buy TRA for $20 million. TRA is a TV research firm that tracks ads and sales of audiences.

As an example, audiences of MTV are tracked if they buy beauty products or other products for young adults. TRA is able to tally up the effectiveness of an ad campaign to bring the biggest bang for the buck for advertisers. As reported by the New York Times, “TRA acquires this data by collecting information from 1.5 million set-top cable boxes and matching the viewers (anonymously) with information gleaned from ‘loyalty cards’ presented at supermarkets, as well as with other measurements, like car-registration information.” This precision in analytics gives marketers an extra valuable tool in creating and tracking advertising campaigns.

So far, TRA has major clients, like Mars candy, Kraft’s Oscar Mayer and CBS.  As reported in the New York Times article, “TRA has signed numerous clients in its five years of existence, including 27 cable and broadcast networks and 45 different advertising brands.” 

The chief research officer of CBS lauded TRA for its effectiveness in tracking sales from viewers; CBS has been using their service since the launch of the company. The article writes, “CBS, an early client, has been especially supportive. That network’s chief research officer, David F. Poltrack, praised the acquisition Monday, citing the effectiveness of TRA data in demonstrating increased accountability in television advertising.”

As great as TRA’s service may be, they still will face pressures with privacy concerns. After all, in order to track sales from their viewers they have to use things like internet browsing cookies that people are force-fed in a way. Recently, browsing cookies have been an opt-out feature to a user’s internet experience, they aren’t just granted like before.

More and more, great internet and digital ad companies are pushing their software products in an age of social media without really giving thought to any liabilities; such as, personal security of information and privacy. These features are paramount to the robust success of digital and television advertising.