TV Spots Not That Effective, Say Advertisers Who Just Spent $150-Plus Million on Super Bowl TV Spots

Looks like we're not the only ones ranting about lackluster Super Bowl ads. According to a new study from Forrester and the Association of National Advertisers, the majority of TV ad buyers (62 percent) say they think their 30-second spots are "not as effective" as they were two years ago.

This isn't a huge shock, given that dwindling ad revenues were the driving force behind last month's Fox v. Time Warner Cable brouhaha, as well as Cablevision's squabble with Food Network and HGTV. Still, the study's stats--broken down by All Things Digital's Peter Kafka--are kind of hilarious, given that advertisers just blew more than $150 million on Super Bowl spots:

• Ad buyers have reduced the amount they are spending on TV, and are now spending just 41% of their budgets on the boob tube, compared to 58% in 2008.
• 66% think DVRs "will destroy or reduce the effectiveness" of the 30-second ad.
• They overwhelming hate the existing metrics used to measure TV programming.
• 63% of them think Google will dominate "tomorrow's bid advertising winners", ahead of cable operators (53%), cable networks (47%) and broadcast networks (9%).

Of course, TV ads are still a $70 billion business, and an industry of that size and scope isn't going away any time scoon--let alone during the most-watched Super Bowl telecast in 23 years. Perhaps that's why, despite their complaints, only 19% of survey respondents believe the 30-second spot will be dead in 10 years, down from 28% a year ago.

[All Things Digital via Forrester]