Initially, Sky AdSmart will be used to tailor ads around Sky Player's online line-up of on-demand programmes, such as House, with a view to being extended to live channels on Sky Player in the future.
Following its introduction on Sky Player, Sky plans to extend Sky AdSmart to linear channels broadcast via Sky+HD boxes in 2011. This will mark the debut of mass-market targeted advertising on linear TV in the UK.
Details of Sky's targeted ad plans were first revealed by Media Week last November, when the project was dubbed internally at Sky as Smart TV.
Sky will combine customer information, for example postcode or chosen Sky package, with information from external sources such as customer surveys. When pooled together, this information will allow Sky to use ad slots around a particular programme so that different ads are seen in different households.
Sky insists that information will be managed in accordance with customers' stated preferences and customers will have the opportunity to choose not to participate in Sky AdSmart.
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