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For a while, it looked as if eBay was going to bring commercials to your television. A number of companies were willing to try out "an auction-based system for buying airtime." There's only problem: no network has stepped forward to participate in the experiment.

No Warm Welcome For Advertising Auctions
"There may be a lot of interest in a better way to price airtime, but ultimately, it's up to the networks to decide when to price like this, and who they want to manage their auctions - decisions they'll resist making for as long as possible if they see this leading to cheaper advertising," wrote Joe of Techdirt.

Joe listed Microsoft, Toyota, and Wal-Mart as some of the advertisers willing to test out the system. He also indicated that Google would like to involve itself in the same way eBay has. "Of course," wrote Joe, "the problem with TV advertising stems from the decline of its traditional model, so a better pricing system will only help so much."

There's been quite a bit of discussion about Google's potential involvement in television. The company has been developing a device that "could hear' what's on television and serve up social interactive programs and, most likely, contextual advertising."

eBay has also been linked to television programming in the past. For a while, it appeared that the online auction company would create a reality show for ABC. That fell through without explanation, though.

The idea of auction-based ads is pretty interesting. Most advertisers seem to support the concept, although I'm not sure that it'll make much difference to the home viewer. Ah, well - without commercials, when would I run to the kitchen for more snack food?

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Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.