TV advertisements – coming soon to a tablet near you

Consumers who flick their eyes between the boob tube and a media tablet or smartphone may become web advertisers’ next big demographic.

According to Parks Associates, nearly 20 percent of tech savvy TV viewers check their mobile devices for program information during a slow scene or commercial break. That growing number could pave the way for new types of ad integration, the research firm believes.

The more TV viewers who bring tablets into their living rooms, the more common personalized ads could become, Parks explained. The group found that despite privacy concerns, more than 33 percent of both U.S. Internet and TV users don’t mind that they’re shown specific ads via retargeting.

The technique pushes specific product ads to computer screens based on a viewer’s cookies. It’s been dubbed “ad stalking” by critics and consumer rights advocates for its tendency to follow users from site to site.

Tablet sales boomed in 2011, with Apple selling more than 15 million iPads in the fourth quarter alone. Many analysts expect the trend to continue as the devices become more affordable, grabbing the attention of more than just early adopters and technophiles with money to burn.

Whether or not that growing user base will become fed up with the same ads popping up on their connected tablet during some quality TV time is a different story.