• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 3, 2008

Add the Hallmark Channel to the list of networks with deals to sell spots on Google TV Ads' auction-based system. Google has had some trouble persuading media companies to place inventory up for bid, but Hallmark has joined the effort, alongside Bloomberg Television and several NBC Universal channels.

The deal covers the Hallmark Channel, in 86 million homes, and its lesser-distributed Hallmark Movie Channel. Inventory to run nationally on both should be available for purchase early next year.

One benefit of TV Ads for an advertiser is that it provides some granular metrics on a commercial's performance. Using set-top box data, Google offers second-by-second tune-in data.

Hallmark--as Google has before--said the data (which is available within 24 hours of a spot airing) allows an advertiser to "make real-time adjustments to their campaigns to maximize return on investment."

Networks have been wary that the system could lead to some devaluing of their inventory. But Google does allow a network to set a floor for which prices it will accept, so if a winning bid falls below that minimum, no deal is consummated.

Another fear is allowing Google to profit from a network's inventory by collecting commissions from sales on TV Ads. Still, if a network has trouble selling the spots itself, money taken in--even minus the Google cut--is a plus.

Both Google and the networks that agreed to sell on the system tout the potential for attracting first-time TV advertisers to national cable, allowing an easy opportunity to log into the system and offer a prospective price. (The system can also help an advertiser create a spot without the need for an agency.)

Bill Abbott, executive vice president of ad sales at Hallmark, said TV Ads "will allow more advertisers to access the network's (programming)."

While networks may be more subtle about TV Ads helping to unload inventory that isn't flying off the shelves--often referred to as "remnant"--Google plugs that as a benefit.

"We think overnight spots, under-monetized daytime spots, spots that may not be sold on Chiller (an NBCU channel), or at 2 in the morning on Bloomberg--we love that inventory," Google's Mike Steib, director of TV Ads, told MediaPost earlier this fall.

While Google lists some virgin TV advertisers that have employed TV Ads, many of Madison Avenue's top media agencies have used the system--if for no other reason than to gain insight into auction-based purchasing, which may someday play a prominent role in the business.

Although it is based on set-top box tracking, the ratings are an extrapolation, although the sample size is considerably larger than Nielsen. Google takes data procured from a subset of Dish Network's 14 million homes, and then through complex algorithms offers a projection for national viewership.

In Hallmark's case, what takes place in perhaps 2 million to 5 million Dish homes forms the basis for determining an ad's performance in the 86 million homes where the family-friendly network, running shows like "The Christmas Choir" on Dec. 6, is carried.

Google can provide more than just details on what happens at the household level. A deal with Nielsen allows it to offer some insight into viewing by demographic, such as how many females ages 25-to-54 are watching a spot on Hallmark.

Before Google concluded deals with NBCU, Bloomberg and Hallmark to sell their national inventory, it sold spots that ran in just the 14 million Dish homes.