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Google Plans to Offer Free WiFi in San Francisco

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the google-google-everywhere dept.

jacksonwest writes "What's been rumored for some time has now been confirmed -- Google has made a bid in response to Mayor Gavin Newsom's request for information. The details of the bid include citywide access, for free, at 300kbps. The plans dovetail into their location-based advertising and services strategy, and come on the heels of their recent VPN service rollout."

9 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch by slavemowgli · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And what does "location-based advertising and services" mean in reality? Free wifi is good, of course, but TNSTAAFL. Can I rely on my traffic not being inspected/recorded by anyone with this offer?

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    1. Re:There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch by rteunissen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Can you rely on your internet connection at home not being inspected/recorded by the company offering the connectivity? Not to start folding tin-foil hats here, but there's not such thing as _real_ privacy over the internet. You just have to decide for yourself wether you want to use the service or not.

    2. Re:There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch by timeOday · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Can I rely on my traffic not being inspected/recorded by anyone with this offer?
      What ISP offers that guarantee? So far as I can see, the protections we all took for granted in the days of the telephone are dead.
  2. Location based Ad? by CSHARP123 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    While the initial use of location-based services might be limited to more-focussed and targeted advertising, the potential of location-based services is immense, officials said.

    Location based Ad? Do they monitor the connections to their network. What about privacy?

  3. Re:How Long by loconet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The same thing is said every time Google releases a new service and I have yet to see a serious abuse from them.

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    [alk]
  4. Re:They're in for it now by scenestar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Telecom companies managed to stop MUNICIPAL wifi.

    With google being a company there is no "tax payer's money" involved.

    The only thing the Telecom companies can do is sue google for "dumping" their products.

    --
    perpetually dwelling in the -1 pits
  5. Re:tremble moneymakers by LordKaT · · Score: 4, Insightful
    What's the angle? Have you not been keeping track of what exactly Google is?

    Google is, first and foremost, an advertising company. They are going to offer "service and location based" advertising with the free Wi-Fi.

    This is just another service built on top of their advertising network.

    Almost everything Google does is built on top of their advertising network.

    What's in it for Google? A few million people being forced to see the Google Ads.

    That's not a bad thing, in my opinion. A few ads for 300kbs wireless Internet connectivity in the United States? Sign me up.

    Keep in mind that this is not like NetZero:

    NetZero was trying to build an ISP out of Ad revenue. Google is trying to enhance their advertising network by offering an ISP.

    The ISP side of Google can simply be a loss leader in order to obtain a wider understanding of their audience. Hey, it adds a ton value to AdWords, which means they can charge a premium for that service over Yahoo! or MSN, and still remain a dominant force in that market.

    If they roll this out nation-wide, this is going to make Google a ton of money.

  6. Not free by Duncan3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's adware.

    Not theat the press ever gets anything right ;)

    --
    - Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
  7. Re:Ain't Gonna Happen by ghost-maker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Its soo nice to see human compassion here...your first priority is to get homeless people out of your view? Not education. Not cheap and reliable health care. Not better, effective and more efficient policing methods. Real estate development that is not damaging to the existing residents, environment, and beneficial to more than just the few. No...your first priority for your public official is all about you. And what you see. WHich is not to say you're any different from any others in America. Not that I am saying that this GOogle free wifi deal with the city of SF was meant to rectify or solve any of the things that are more important issues facing SF and any city. But it has an apparent beneficial result regardless...maybe. It could and probably would allow more people access to information. What they do withthat information...is a guess better answerd by someone who totally understands the power of information and access to it on a society. It may drive prices down for related and competing services or force them to offer a much more compelling package than they do now. Which in turn will get more people online. WHich may have an effect and may not in the city. Its just I can't shake the sense of deja vu of people complaining that electricity really had nothing to offer to improve their real lives and was just a novelty. Which was true for awhile. But look at us now. Without access to electricity in today's society, you are definitely (for the most part) disadvantaged from the start. So in my eyes...I will be judging this cautiously as a good thing. The cities I think that get internet access to the level of electricity or water the earliest I believe will be in better shape years from now.