6:00 PM -- ATLANTA -- TelcoTV 2007 -- Ad insertion is a big topic here, because it's one of the ways carriers can make big money off IPTV, so the theory goes.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is among those interested. The carrier wants to try dynamic ad insertion on FiOS and is looking for partners and for some ad avails (time slots) to experiment with, said Tricia Lynch, director of FiOS TV programming, during an afternoon panel on VOD business models.

The hope is to run some tests in the first half of 2008, "largely focused on the operational aspects," she said. By the second half, Verizon could start rolling ad insertion as a real business.

Interesting to hear one of the big players talk that way. That should be good news to the hordes of equipment vendors preaching ad insertion stories lately.

As for targeting those ads, it can be done in myriad ways, down to targeting individuals based on their viewing habits. Verizon wants to start simpler than that -- as do most telcos, probably. Time-based targeting -- showing different ads in the evening versus the daytime -- could be a first step, Lynch guessed.

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading