A new type of search engine has been developed to assist consumers in finding clothes on television as they watch. The visual search engine, TVRunway, launched last week and is the first tool of its kind. The TVRunway technology is available to be used on Stream Now TV's selection of over 1,000 films and television shows. Retailers such as Bloomingdale's and Target have already signed up to participate with the service, which integrates with the video streaming website and matches the user's requested item of clothing to over 300 retailers' current stock levels. TVRunway's CEO, Terena Bell, said that “forcing ads down people's throats for what you think they want doesn't work”, and believes that “if there's ever been a call to arms to create better ads, this is it”. She added that the platform is unobtrusive as the user is already watching what they want to watch anyway, and they are the one who decides when they want to learn more about an item of clothing. Currently, the industry loses nearly 22 billion US dollars to ad blockers each year, and Bell says that it is “the…approach that video advertising desperately needs”.Â
