# Become a TiVo Advisor



## Solver (Feb 17, 2005)

Is this new?
Anyone sign up yet?

http://advisors.tivo.com/research


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## bpurcell (Mar 16, 2005)

I'm curious how you found this link? I couldn't find it on the Tivo site. Did they send you an email?

EDIT: or since you live in San Jose, this is really a viral ad from Tivo? Either way, thanks for the link.


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

bpurcell said:


> I'm curious how you found this link? I couldn't find it on the Tivo site. Did they send you an email?


It is on the Tivo main menu screen. You can sign up there and it says it will take 2-3 weeks to complete or you can go to the website, the link the OP provided.

As far as how it goes this is new that I know of, maybe they did something like this long time ago, but nothing in the past 10 months or so, and I have signed up. I however like to sign up for anything Tivo related as I am interested in what they are doing.


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## bpurcell (Mar 16, 2005)

Einselen said:


> It is on the Tivo main menu screen. You can sign up there and it says it will take 2-3 weeks to complete or you can go to the website, the link the OP provided.


Maybe the fact that I'm blind in my left eye is preventing me from seeing it, but I don't see the link on the main page that you're talking about. Are you talking about the beta tester link on the "I Have Tivo" page?


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

bpurcell said:


> Maybe the fact that I'm blind in my left eye is preventing me from seeing it, but I don't see the link on the main page that you're talking about. Are you talking about the beta tester link on the "I Have Tivo" page?


The link is not on the Tivo page (website) at all, at least not that I know of. I learned about the program from My Tivo's Menu. It appeared in the last 24 hours I believe above the Gold Star and has the TiVo icon right next to it. It is like the link they had when they were advertising the refurbed DVD Units for $99.99. After going to that menu on my Tivo and saying I want to sign up it said to me the 2-3 weeks to get an e-mail (?!??!!!) and that I could sign up bu going to the website the OP listed. Like I said though it just appeared on my Tivo and if you don't have it yet on yours I am sure it will come up soon. My guess is Tivo does everything in different rollout chunks or maybe my system just called home at the right time to get the message early.


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## bpurcell (Mar 16, 2005)

I'm sorry, I misunderstood.  I didn't realize you were talking about the actual Tivo box main menu. My bad.

Anyway, I checked on my box and it wasn't there either. You're probably right that my tivo just didn't connect at the right time.


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## JacksTiVo (Jan 7, 2006)

I attempted to sign up and I got the following message: "(1) Sorry, this email address has already been registered with the system."

I must be having a senior moment since I don't recall previously signing up. In any event, I have never received any email communications asking for my opinion.


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## ping (Oct 3, 2005)

Crap: I take it DirecTiVo users may not apply.  Even those who are considered by TiVo to be, you know, "special customers".


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## DeathRider (Dec 30, 2006)

bpurcell said:


> I'm sorry, I misunderstood.  I didn't realize you were talking about the actual Tivo box main menu. My bad.
> 
> Anyway, I checked on my box and it wasn't there either. You're probably right that my tivo just didn't connect at the right time.


I got that message on both my TiVos last night when I manually connected to TiVo for an update.


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

Done! Thanks for the link, it certainly looks interesting.


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## sushikitten (Jan 28, 2005)

I signed up weeks ago and haven't heard one peep from them.


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

jenhudson said:


> I signed up weeks ago and haven't heard one peep from them.


did you confirm your email address?


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## Mike Farrington (Nov 16, 2000)

I signed up, but then looked up the company doing this. It's some sort of market research company. I hope it really is an honest attempt to give us input; and not just a way for TiVo to try out targeted ads. I wonder if I just signed up for "Fast Forward Ads" by mistake.


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

I got most of the way into it when I was asked to allow them to collect personally identifiable data from my Tivo units. They did not explain what they needed to collect or why. I just closed the browser window. I don't mind participating, but they're going to need to explain to me what they're planning on doing with my info. Providing it to a telemarketer?


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

bmgoodman said:


> I got most of the way into it when I was asked to allow them to collect personally identifiable data from my Tivo units. They did not explain what they needed to collect or why. I just closed the browser window. I don't mind participating, but they're going to need to explain to me what they're planning on doing with my info. Providing it to a telemarketer?


they have this already on tivo's i think, had it for years

I may be off on this, but they HAVE been doing this if you either opt-in or don't opt out, can't remember.


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## Mike Farrington (Nov 16, 2000)

MikeMar said:


> they have this already on tivo's i think, had it for years
> 
> I may be off on this, but they HAVE been doing this if you either opt-in or don't opt out, can't remember.


Yes, but now you are opting in to give "personally identifiable" information to a 3rd party. This one seems to go a bit further than anything they've done before.


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## bpurcell (Mar 16, 2005)

I don't believe they are suggesting giving your personal info to 3rd party. After I signed up, I received an email that said my account was changed to "opt-in", which I already agreed to in order to allow Kidzone and Tivocast. If you are already an "opt-in", then I don't believe this changes anything. Opt-in has always included personally identifiable info.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

from the Email
"This is a courtesy email to confirm the recent change you made to your privacy status. Your privacy status was changed to OptIn, allowing a limited use of your personally identifiable viewing information so that you may enjoy TiVo features like KidZone Guides, TiVo Guru Guide Recommendations, and more."

and this is no different than the opt-in policy they have had for years now. There actually was another panel invite before but that was a more marketing oriented approach without the advisors or access to new features angle in this one. It had the exact same opt in policy.

I signed up for that one and never heard back.


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

I just signed up for this.


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## threephi (Jan 16, 2002)

MikeMar said:


> they have this already on tivo's i think, had it for years
> 
> I may be off on this, but they HAVE been doing this if you either opt-in or don't opt out, can't remember.


The default, correctly, is opt out. It would be a really offensive policy if they defaulted you to the more invasive form of information collection. You have to actively choose to opt in for them to collect personally identifiable info.

From the TiVo Privacy Policy:



>  TiVo does not collect or access any Personally Identifiable Viewing Information (as defined below) from your TiVo DVR, UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY GIVE PRIOR CONSENT. Absent your consent, TiVo does not keep track of what shows you-as an individual or household- have watched, recorded, or rated with "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down."


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## kdmorse (Jan 29, 2001)

_The default, correctly, is opt out. _

Technically, the default, is Opt-Neutral. Anonymous viewing data is collected (grouped only by zip code last time we knew), no personally identifiable data is collected. This is how we get those "most rewound moments during the superbowl" stats.

You can call up, and switch to Opt-Out, and then nothing is collected at all. You won't count towards the tally of folks who rewound to rewatch a wardrobe malfunction, or count towards the tally of folks watching Fear Factor religiously.

And then there's Opt-In, where personally identifiable information is sent for the purposes of enhanced features, or enhanced data collection.

(These things used to be visible via backdoors at one point)

-Ken


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## mattheinz (Jan 18, 2007)

TiVo Advisor? Is this like a brand ambassador program?


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## rich (Mar 18, 2002)

Back around 2003 or so, TiVo did a thing of "sign up to give input directly to Hollywood bigwigs" and it changed your setting to Opt-In. They ran one survey and then nothing else happened, but your setting remained at Opt-In. After six months or so I got myself unsubscribed from this thing. It looked to me as just a way to get you to Opt-In. Maybe this will be better, but I do not plan to sign up for it.


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## Mike Farrington (Nov 16, 2000)

rich said:


> Back around 2003 or so, TiVo did a thing of "sign up to give input directly to Hollywood bigwigs" and it changed your setting to Opt-In. They ran one survey and then nothing else happened, but your setting remained at Opt-In. After six months or so I got myself unsubscribed from this thing. It looked to me as just a way to get you to Opt-In. Maybe this will be better, but I do not plan to sign up for it.


You may be on to something. Maybe its an "opt-in" push before the Super Bowl. TiVo does love touting Super Bowl stats, for both the game and advertisements.


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## jtlytle (May 17, 2005)

I signed up..

If any of you win a prize or two, post them here!


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## rich (Mar 18, 2002)

rich said:


> Back around 2003 or so, TiVo did a thing of "sign up to give input directly to Hollywood bigwigs" and it changed your setting to Opt-In. They ran one survey and then nothing else happened, but your setting remained at Opt-In. After six months or so I got myself unsubscribed from this thing. It looked to me as just a way to get you to Opt-In. Maybe this will be better, but I do not plan to sign up for it.


Checking further, it was actually in August of 2002 and then it was called the Hotline2Hollywood Club.


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I got well into the sign-up process BEFORE being told that the privacy policy would change for me. Since I wasn't comfortable with opting in, I CANCELED and DID NOT ACCEPT the change. Later in the day, I got an e-mail from Tivo stating I had changed my settings and opted in. WHICH I DID NOT DO! What's the point of even asking me to agree, if they're just going to change me to opt-in regardless?? :down: :down: :down: 

Bad programmers, bad!


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## rich (Mar 18, 2002)

Mike Farrington said:


> You may be on to something. Maybe its an "opt-in" push before the Super Bowl. TiVo does love touting Super Bowl stats, for both the game and advertisements.


The August timing for the Hotline2Hollywood Club was also interesting because it was right before the start of the new season.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

rich said:


> Checking further, it was actually in August of 2002 and then it was called the Hotline2Hollywood Club.





ZeoTiVo said:


> and this is no different than the opt-in policy they have had for years now. There actually was another panel invite before but that was a more marketing oriented approach without the advisors or access to new features angle in this one. It had the exact same opt in policy.


yep, that is the one. Basically TiVo has two databses. 1 has the anonymous data by zipcode of what is being watched and trickplay, etc.. on TiVo DVRs. The other database has the account info with TSN numbers etc.. TiVo uses to manage accounts and premissions and software upgrades and so forth. At opt-nuetral the two databases are disconected so no individual viewing habits are known. if you call in and opt-out then the first database of viewing info is not populated anymore from your DVR. If you opt in then a link is created so what is being viewed by DVRs can be linked to your account.

for the TiVo Advisor program they are not giving out your name or address (I think) but they can back up the survey you filled in at the advisor site (which is all the demographics they wouldrather have vs your name anyway ) with the data of viewing habits from the DVR. I suspect future surveys would be looking for more of the amse kind of demographic detail. Most likely they will have zip code as well so they can break the results up by region. Obviously that is something of good value TiVo can offer without ever having to give out your name address or telephone number. As long as marketers can not cvome after me directly then I am all for helping them make advertising more directed to my needs and wants instead of wasting my time with stuff I could care less about. There is always the hope TiVo can start to wean itself from subscription rates as well for the service though I would not expect that anytime soon.

Since we gave up most of our dempgraphic data in the old one and now this one- there really is little need for the marketers to contact us again as long as they keep getting the report by zipcode on who is watching what and how it breaks down demographically. TiVo looks to have gotten smarter this time and realize the group that signs up for this would also be willing to give direct feedback to TiVo so hopefully TiVo will start to ask us what features and services and prices we are looking for from TiVo and make this thing a little more active this time around.


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## nhaigh (Jul 16, 2001)

MikeMar said:


> did you confirm your email address?


I also signed up weeks ago and confirmed the E_mail address. I don't know what it was for but I havene't heard anything from them. They did of course capture my E-mail address etc.


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

nhaigh said:


> I also signed up weeks ago and confirmed the E_mail address. I don't know what it was for but I havene't heard anything from them. They did of course capture my E-mail address etc.


My guess is since I just saw it on my Tivo, that they are waiting for the "collection" process to end and then they will mass contact everyone with whatever plans they are doing. That or they could be collecting the data and then deciding what they will or will not contact you about.


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## Higuchem (Jan 3, 2006)

I saw this last night on my tvio and signed up and hope I will get to help in making Tivo better.


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## Solver (Feb 17, 2005)

Has anyone seen any benifits of being a TiVo advisor yet?


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Not here.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

I tried to sign up and got this...



> Sorry, we're currently unable to link your TiVo account to your TiVo Research Panel (by Vision Crit account. Please try again later or contact customer support.


and...



> Were sorry, but your username and/or password were not recognized by TiVo.com as a valid subscriber. Possible reasons for this outcome are:
> 
> You may have accidentally entered the wrong information.
> You may not have a valid TiVo subscriber account on TiVo.com. Please click here to create one.
> You may not be recognized as a subscriber. Please call TiVo Customer Service at 877-367-8486 to verify your account standing.


WTF?


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

I can sign in just fine. But it says --

email : [email protected]
WELCOME (name)

sign out
Welcome to the TiVoAdvisors. Thank you for your participation.

Please select from the following options:

OPEN STUDIES
You have no open studies at this time.
USER PROFILE INFORMATION
(name)
(e-mail)
Change Email


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## jmace57 (Nov 30, 2002)

Same here...still waiting.

Jim


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

It asked me to fill out a survey shortly after I signed up.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

I got an email about a month or so ago and signed up from there. Once you sign up there's a special website at http://advisors.tivo.com/ but there's never anything to do once I've signed in there either.


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

timckelley said:


> It asked me to fill out a survey shortly after I signed up.


Ditto. But nothing since.


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## TiVoPony (May 12, 2002)

Hey all,

This is a fully sanctioned TiVo thing, no worries about that. Basically we're creating a panel of users that are willing to share their personal viewing data with us. In that way we'll have the ability to answer even more questions for partners (and ourselves of course) regarding viewership, the use of new features over time...things like that.

I'll give you a good example...the new Extend Live prompt that allows you to automatically add padding to the end of a live event. How many people are using this for the SuperBowl? Today we can abstract some guesses, but with our anonymous aggregate data we can only 'see' a single slice of time for a random group of users. A panel allows us to track usage and adoption over a period of time. 

It's optional, but if you do sign up, we appreciate your participation in making the TiVo Service that much better. 

Thanks!
Pony


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

I might be embarassed to share my person viewing data..


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## ufo4sale (Apr 21, 2001)

Pony, how is this different from people who opted in fully in the past?


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## Mike Farrington (Nov 16, 2000)

And where does household income play a role?


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## TiVoPony (May 12, 2002)

People who have fully opted in to share their data in the past are not part of the panel (unless the choose to be a part of it).

The demographic data that you're being asked will help us understand more about how our new features and services are being used. Are they being used only by single people? Middle income people? People with kids? That kind of stuff. You might imagine how our own marketing folks could make use of that kind of information...which features should we promote to which groups of people, that kind of stuff. Demographics are key to answering those questions.

Anticipating a few more questions on this:

Your personal data is always kept anonymous. Nobody gets to know who you are, or what you personally like to watch. If any reporting is done, it is aggregated to demographic categories ("People with kids watched this show x% more often") but never on a personal household level ("Bob's house watched this show").

And, I understand there is a sweepstakes that you're entered into once you've signed up. So there's that too. 

Cheers,
Pony


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## Rawson819 (Oct 3, 2003)

steve614 said:


> I tried to sign up and got this...
> 
> and...
> 
> WTF?


Steve, the first time I attempted to sign up I got these same error messages. I just tried again and it went through without issue. Not sure if it was the reason for my success, but the first time I did not put in my full first name as listed on my account; whereas the second time I did.

Joe


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

Thanks for posting, Pony - good information.


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## Bluesfan77 (Nov 17, 2006)

TivoPony -> Could you elaborate more on the following part on the webpage?

"You may also have a chance to see new advertisements, products and services before they are released to the general public."

Would this be like beta-testing the new version of tivo desktop?


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## shiffrin (Aug 23, 2000)

I finally got the email to sign up and tried to do this yesterday. I got similar error messages that others have reported, so I sent an email to Tivo Homes as requested. They replied that they were having problems and that I would get a new email within 48 hours with a corrected link.


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## Cue-Ball (Oct 8, 2002)

the Privacy Policy link on homes.tivo is still broken for me. Has anyone had this work? I'm interested in signing up, but not without reading the privacy policy.


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## shelbel (Mar 11, 2004)

> I CANCELED and DID NOT ACCEPT the change. Later in the day, I got an e-mail from Tivo stating I had changed my settings and opted in. WHICH I DID NOT DO! What's the point of even asking me to agree, if they're just going to change me to opt-in regardless??


The same thing happened to me. Bah.


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## MighTiVo (Oct 26, 2000)

http://advisors.tivo.com/research

The study you are trying to access is temporarily unavailable. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences. Please try again later.


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## golden_child (Feb 9, 2007)

I just got an email from

Tivo Homes

Subject: TiVo Subscriber Opinion Panel Invitation

Do you think it's legit to click on the links?

_I can't put URLs or emails until I hit the 5 post quota._


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## javabird (Oct 13, 2006)

Is there a way I can still sign up? I didn't have time to sign up when I first saw the message, and when I went back later, it was gone.


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## rcr2 (Feb 3, 2007)

Same here.. keep going to the page daily since I saw the announcement and haven't been able to sign up because the "access is temporarily unavailable".


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## golden_child (Feb 9, 2007)

Anyone?



golden_child said:


> I just got an email from
> 
> Tivo Homes
> 
> ...


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## Solver (Feb 17, 2005)

golden_child said:


> Anyone?


GC, here is a quote from a couple of posts above, from "TiVo Pony"
(TiVo Product Marketing)

"Hey all,

This is a fully sanctioned TiVo thing, no worries about that. Basically we're creating a panel of users that are willing to share their personal viewing data with us. In that way we'll have the ability to answer even more questions for partners (and ourselves of course) regarding viewership, the use of new features over time...things like that.

I'll give you a good example...the new Extend Live prompt that allows you to automatically add padding to the end of a live event. How many people are using this for the SuperBowl? Today we can abstract some guesses, but with our anonymous aggregate data we can only 'see' a single slice of time for a random group of users. A panel allows us to track usage and adoption over a period of time.

It's optional, but if you do sign up, we appreciate your participation in making the TiVo Service that much better.

Thanks!
Pony"


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## kennlee (Feb 13, 2007)

kdmorse said:


> _The default, correctly, is opt out. _
> 
> Technically, the default, is Opt-Neutral. Anonymous viewing data is collected (grouped only by zip code last time we knew), no personally identifiable data is collected. This is how we get those "most rewound moments during the superbowl" stats.
> 
> ...


 Is there no other method to opt-out than calling the support number?


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

I just got an email request to fill out a survey, as a result of my participation in this.

I just filled it out. 

And now I'm entered into a sweepstakes to hopefully win a $50 Best Buy gift certificate.


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

timckelley said:


> I just got an email request to fill out a survey, as a result of my participation in this.
> 
> I just filled it out.
> 
> And now I'm entered into a sweepstakes to hopefully win a $50 Best Buy gift certificate.


Me too.


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## wolflord11 (Jan 17, 2007)

Looks like some of us are the choosen few


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## greystreet629 (Dec 16, 2006)

I just got an e-mail telling me that I won one of the 50 dollar Best Buy gift cards for the survey that some of us filled out a few weeks ago!

I know it's not much, but I really never win stuff, so this is pretty exciting 

-Anthony


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

You lucky dog. I demand you deed that over to me.


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## etz (Sep 8, 2006)

I got an email that says .....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for signing up for the TiVo Homes Panel!

Due to a slight issue with our panel database, we have not been able to complete your registration by matching your panelist account to your TiVo subscriber account. We would like to ask you three quick questions to help us complete your panel registration.

If we are not able to match you to your account, we cannot make you a full member of our panel, so please fill this out carefully! If you have any questions about this, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It goes on to ask what's my email address and more importantly, what's my Service Number.

There's no way I'm putting my lifetimed Service Number in a reply to an unsolicited email, regardless of how legit Pony says this panel is.

Pony, I hope this isn't a phishing attempt. But if it isn't this is not a very good way for the homes panel to be run.


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

You know the email address you're replying to and if it is @tivo.com, why would you think it is a phishing email? What's the problem? Caution is one thing, paranoia is another.


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## etz (Sep 8, 2006)

The trouble I had with this was that it wasn'st purely just correspondence with the sender via email. The email gave instructions to go to some long-ass website address where you were supposed to enter all sorts of information, including the TSN. That's where I was uncomfortable because I didn't know who was getting that info. For all I know the email address was spoofed and the TSNs were being harvested by someone else. The web address wasn't even part of www.tivo.com

Paranoid, maybe. But I'm not taking those kind of chances with my TSN.

Anyway, I did write back to the sender and we worked it all out w/o me sending any info.


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## Test (Dec 8, 2004)

Well that brings up a question for me...

What could someone do if they got your TSN?


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## etz (Sep 8, 2006)

they could transfer ownership of your box to another account. At the very least, it would make it impossible to do remote scheduling and multi-room viewing. But I suppose that could be worked out by having the TSN re-transferred. 

Depending on the TiVo promotion at the time, they could transfer the lifetime service to a newer TiVo, leaving you with a doorstop.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

> The study you are trying to access is temporarily unavailable. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. Please try again later.


Looks like the site is down. Either that or they don't want me to participate...


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