The American cable industry is seeking to establish a standard architecture for interactive advertising applications and services. Code-named Canoe, to suggest that all cable operators paddle in the same direction, rather than that they are all up the same creek, it aims to allow advertisers to use interactive advertising without having to negotiate multiple incompatible systems.

CableLabs, the research and development consortium, has issued a request for information in connection with building a next-generation interactive advertising platform, say reports.

Comcast and Time Warner Cable executives both alluded to the project at recent investor conferences.

The Canoe project is expected to define common interfaces and systems of advanced advertising services, such as addressable advertising and interactive applications. These are likely to be based on existing technical standards such as the OpenCable Application Platform, and other enhanced television and video-on-demand specifications.

www.cablelabs.com