TiVo researchers say the advertisers who scored big during Super Bowl Sunday were those who took a gamble and placed their ads late in the game.
Anonymous TiVo tracking shows the audience grew as the Steelers and Cardinals battled it out.
"The top commercials were in the last quarter because as the game heated up, more people were watching so definitely people benefited from great game play," said TiVo Research Director Elissa Lee.
Go Daddy ranked number one on TiVo's ad list, even if some critics found it a little overexposed.
"Not my favorite commercial by any stretch," said one Super Bowl viewer.
Bud Light's summer to winter was the second most watched and re-watched ad. Coming in third is memorable sequence from careerbuilders.com.
Don't be surprised if none of the Super Bowl commercials really stand out for you. In this economy analysts say this was the year for advertisers to play it safe.
Lilly Buchwitz is an advertising and marketing professor at San Jose State University. She says at $3 million for 30 seconds, everyone from Budweiser to Go Daddy went with proven themes they've used in the past.
"There were no shocking you or surprising you other that was really memorable. It all had the feel of we've seen this before," said Buchwitz.
Doritos went with another year of user generated commercials. Impressively, TiVo says it was the most viewed moment of the first half.
The real power play though didn't come from an advertiser. Hands down the most watched and re-watched Super Bowl moment was Pittsburgh's winning touchdown.
"It was wonderful, it was exciting. You'd watch it again and again. It was exciting," said another Super Bowl viewer.
For Super Bowl advertisers, there's now a second kickoff on the Internet.
Related links:
