MIAMI – Google doesn’t have to search for television partners. The digital giant is busily helping broadcasters and cable networks connect with viewers while distributing and monetizing their content.
“We definitely have a perspective that eventually everything is going to go IP,” says Brian Jankovsky, Director of Entertainment & Sports Partnerships at Google, during a panel discussion at the recent Beet.tv Retreat 2016. “It’s going to take some time.”
Jankovsky calls enabling programmers to better connect with viewers “really our core DNA” before citing two examples. Google recently began ingesting TV schedules that show up in organic searches. And it will “eventually roll out” a feature that give programmers more control on where they drive users who through search end up on a particular TV program’s landing page.
On the content distribution side, in addition to Play and Android TV Google is “investing a ton in the cloud,” says Jankovsky. He cites the company’s acquisition of Envato, which TechCrunch reports is a platform for encoding, editing, publishing and distribution video across platforms.
DoubleClick is the prime source of Google’s monetization efforts, according to Jankovsky. Two big areas of activity are user experience and dynamic ad insertion for “true one-to-one addressability of linear signals” delivered via IP, along with a major emphasis on programmatic.
“That feels a lot like mobile felt five, six years ago,” Jankovsky says of programmatic. “It’s coming together. We’re seeing more adoption on those screens.”
Asked by panel moderator Tim Hanlon of The Vertere Group to explain the value Google provides while “selling into the ecosystem,” and whether Google will be a means of simply re-aggregating lost audiences as defined by Nielsen ratings, Jankovsky offers a neutral response.
“I think as an ad tech player in an open ecosystem, we have to support whatever currency the buy and sell side wants to use,” Jankovsky says. “There is some data that we think we can lend to the conversation. Like brand attribution through search.
“Where we can make a real difference is on the programmatic platform. That’s true one-to-one targeting and as the signals get better I think that’s only going to get more precise.”
This interview was conducted at Beet Retreat 2016: The Transformation of Television Advertising, an executive retreat presented by Videology with AT&T AdWorks and the 605. Please find more videos from the event here.
