Not that getting all up in our proverbial grills in order to provide specialized advertising is a new concept or anything, but Microsoft in particular has been on the warpath of late in this very realm. On the heels of a similar ad-based patent application comes documentation that reveals plans to use "biometric sensors, cameras, remote controls, or other accessories" to detect and identify an individual before doling out targeted plugs. Yes, this certainly does insinuate that your television would be watching you just as often as you viewed it, but unless it becomes lawful to stuff monitoring devices into our homes for the benefit of marketers, we'll consider ourselves safe -- for the time being.

[Via TechDirt]

A patent application has recently been approved by the USPTO which details a landline phone that would feature a GUI capable of displaying controls, targeted ads, and various infoswag. Inventor Rich Loen seems especially keen on the advertising potential of his so-called Internet protocol telephone system, which would allow businesses like hotels and spas to stream different ads depending on room price, or consumers to receive offers based on location, time of day, and type of residence, among many other possible criteria. Sounds like a good idea for service industries looking to squeeze a few more bucks out of their facilities, but maybe not ideal for the average landline user, who's gonna require more than just in-phone stock quotes or sports scores to convince him / her to let Google ads onto yet another screen. Now dangle some sweet subsidized calling plans in front of us, and we just might bite.

[Via textually]

Although Microsoft has patented an advertising "gotcha" to insert fresh plugs into previously recorded shows, Visible World and OpenTV are taking targeted advertising to a whole new level. While the systems have been trialed for some time now, Visible World's variable ad system will hit the mainstream when Wendy's commercials on Fox Sports' NFL broadcasts feature raccoons that seemingly know what just happened on the field. The 'coons will bust out comments about how boring the scoreless match is, how crazy that touchdown pass was, or how miserable that shirtless guy in the front row must be in the below-freezing weather. Eventually, both firms hope to focus ads right down to individual households, claiming that "dog-related advertisements" would show up primarily in dog-owning households, and that Ford commercials could be specifically shown to compete with local / regional competition in a given area. Still, for those programs that we can stand to watch later, we doubt a slightly clever advertisement will keep our fingers off the FF button, but at least this stuff makes those live broadcasts a bit less painstaking.