HbbTV Association releases targeted advertising spec 

The HbbTV Association has announced the publication of the second phase of its solution for Targeted Advertising (TA). 

The group said that the TA enables substitution of broadcast adverts with targeted adverts in situations where the broadcast TV signal is received by a STB and passed to the HbbTV TV set via a connection such as HDMI.

This follows the establishment of the HbbTV Application Discovery Over Broadband (ADB) specification that already defines how broadcasters can add signalling to video and audio which survives the HDMI connection and can be used by a TV set to launch an HbbTV app. This specification has now been updated to enable broadcaster apps to use the HbbTV TA API to schedule a precise switch from HDMI to an advert and back again when the TV set is connected via a STB.

The group added that the combination of ADB and TA will allow broadcasters to reach more of their audience with targeted advertising.

Vincent Grivet, Chair of the HbbTV Association, said: “The release of the TA solution for STB markets is a perfect example of how HbbTV adjusts its specifications to the needs of industry players, enabling them to adjust to real market circumstances and grow their business through new revenue sources.”