So how annoying ARE the ads, anyway?

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I think there's no question that the current ads aren't moneymakers. TiVo has spent a lot more on developing and pushing the ad technology than any revenue they could have gotten so far.

IMO, the goal is to show Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, etc what the targeted ad possibilities are, and what the response to ads is likely to be. That's all with the goal of becoming the DVR that those companies distribute. TV ad money is going to be undergoing massive shifts in the next few years, and no one wants to be left out.

Given the Comcast pilot partnership recently announced (TiVo tru2way will be the primary DVR for Comcast in one of their franchises), TiVo seems to be succeeding.

 

If that's the case then based on the multitude of postings here the response is one of the following:

They are despised and unlikely to be responded to or they are ignored and unlikely to be responded to, or they are bypassed by one or another scheme and unlikely to be responded to. Doesn't seem like those would make very good bullets in a Powerpoint presentation. But then we're talking about ad men selling to other ad men and I've never met one who wasn't a candidate for a rubber room.

 

as you can see some are very passionate that they loath them. others like myself dont see them as a big deal.

You'll probably need to get a box and try it for the 30 days to see how you feel. If that's too much or a hassle then try something else I guess. Also when you make your judgement if you decide you are right at your breaking point with the current ads then realize they have been adding incremently over the years looking for something that works. So some other thing might come along later.

Buying a box from scratch today the current ads and potential ratching up wouldn't deter me. (there might be other things but the ads aren't it)

 

What ads?

 

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Maybe if we get a HUNDRED threads about this same subject, people will change their minds...

 

One more time for good measure ---

 

Not sure why I'm doing this...

These are my opinions regarding the ads:
1) If one purchases a TiVo solely to skip ads, that person has made an incorrect choice. While the Tivo is quite efficient and accurate for fast forwarding, the skipping over of commercials is hardly complete or even novel. A cheap-o VCR I had in the early 90's had a 30-second-skip button even.

2) We Tivo enthusiasts constantly want more and more from our devices. Reality says that someone has to pay for it. If a pizza chain or car manufacturer can pay for the upgrade instead of me I'm okay with seeing their name above the progress bar for 2 seconds. The 2 seconds it takes me to press "down" on my remote and never see it again during that show.

3) Tivo is not alone in being something that we pay for, and which also has advertising. Your local newspaper (should you still have one), darn near every cable channel, and most magazines to name a few. I don't know about you, but I'm able to skip over most of the ads in the paper or a magazine. Even though they're "in my face" like some would say about the new pause ads on Tivo.

I guess it all boils down to how much advertising, as a concept, annoys you.

 

I find them completely unobtrusive. You pay for a movie... the first 15 minutes are ads, you go to a website... there's ads everywhere, you watch TV... there's ads there, you drive down the road... there's billboards everywhere. All those things you PAY to do and there are ads (and yes, you pay to drive, taxes for the road, gas for the car, etc. etc.). I barely notice the Tivo ads unless its something that catches my eye and I want to see.

And there keeping my subscription rate down so its a win win.

 

I'm a heavy TiVo user/watcher (several hours a day, it seems ), and they don't bother me at all. Hardly notice most of 'em. The only one that's even *remotely* visible to me is the pause one, and that's about a 3 on a 1-to-10 bugme scale.

 

I have to say I noticed the ads when they suddenly popped up on me (the pause bar looked different). But then again, I can't recall seeing it lately.

In fact, I just paused to see, and there were no ads.

Go figure. In fact, I think some of my ads have disappeared - I don't recall seeing the ones at the bottom of the TiVo menu, either.

 

One thing to note -- the ads never prevent you from doing something. Unlike some DVDs and online videos, you are never forced to wait for an ad to complete.

As the linked site notes, don't count on cable company hardware being ad free either.

 

sorry - there is a feature that when you start a new thread and put in the subject line of the thread the forum software will list threads of a similar nature - that thread I pointed to comes up if you start a new thread with the text you used in your thread subject line.

So it was presented to you and you chose to ignore it and start yet another thread. It makes me very disinclined to listen to what you have to say.

another great feature of the forum software is in the upper right "Thread Tools" "Ignore this thread" buh-bye.

 

I just started using the pause-clear sequence on my Harmony (which replaced the normal pause command). It's great, because it clears the "ad" in about one second. But, if you really want to see where you are in a program, you can hit the play button again. However, I rarely need or want to see where I'm at...I simply want to pause the recording.

 

As you said above you have made your feelings (that ads don't bother you any) obnoxiously clear in multiple threads. Why, then, did you go to the effort of programming your Harmony to clear the ad? Huh? And then proclaim it's great "because it clears the "ad" in about one second"!

 

Maybe it doesn't bother him because he doesn't see it, because he programmed his remote with the macro? I think you answered your own question!

 

Naah, he's been proclaiming his indifference to the ads for weeks. Yet he just now programmed his Harmony to get rid of something he says doesn't bother him.

 

Um....I did it because I could? Wow....the love around here is awesome....

Never once did I say I liked the ads....I just said they didn't bother me....just as you say, I'm indifferent. But I've previously stated that, would I have the choice, I would certainly do without. And now I can do without....

Now, you all have a nice day...

 

Thanks for the suggestion to do this and Harmony for finally programming sequence commands (did not realize it until I read this thread). Now off to search for other handy sequences for the tivo.

Oh yeah, to be on topic. . . I find the Ads annoying as they take up screen space. If I pause to see a detail in the picture often the ad is in the way and annoying. That I can press the down button and clear it makes it tolerable. I am pretty accomplished at irgnoring noise and I do not think I have actually read more than one of the banner comments so they are really more of a minor irritant. Now with this sequence I could care less.