Whither Advertising?

So after yesterday's false alarm (Japan banning commercial skipping?) it's interesting to see Tivo actually (gasp!) innovating a new service in television:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Digital video recorder maker TiVo Inc. on Monday upgraded its television recording service to let about 1 million of its subscribers instantly respond to specially coded advertising, the company said....

The new system creates an option for viewers who want to know more about a product to tell TiVo to release their contact information to an advertiser. For example, after watching an ad for an automobile or family vacation, users can ask to have a brochure sent to their home.

"We have seen the need to provide greater entry point to this advertising space ... to support enough advertisers concurrently," said Kimber Sterling, director of advertising and research sales. "And consumers who are interested in those products will invest several minutes of their time."

Fascinating - bringing the web paradigm of "click-through" ads to television. Of course, the next logical step is to go the Salon.com route - forcing viewers to watch ads before they can access their content. Of course, if Tivo lets me choose which ads I'd prefer to watch, that might even work.