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Verizon to Allow Ads on Its Mobile Phones
srizah tipped us to a New York Times article, which has the news that Verizon is going to introduce ads to their phones. The offerings will show up when users browse the internet via their cell service, and will exclude streaming ads that might not work in the mobile format. Sprint began offering ads right on their cell 'deck' in October, and the article indicates that access to cellphone screens is a going concern with online advertisers. From the article: "Even without cooperation from carriers, advertisers have been able to reach consumers visiting off-deck sites, and such marketing has grown in size and in scope. The first advertisers drawn to mobile phones tended to be quick-serve restaurants and hotels -- businesses that people might want access to on the go. But increasingly, there is traditional brand marketing, said Jeff Janer, chief marketing officer for Third Screen Media, a mobile ad management company that pairs advertisers and agencies with providers of mobile content, like USA Today and the Weather Channel."
Great, not only will they offer terrible service, but now I get an offer to waste my time and bandwidth with advertising.
And whether the advertisers pay for the space (or I would get asked to pay, since it is my phone and service time), it doesn't matter, because I'll be goddamned if I'm going to have a cellphone company foist their own content on me.
All I want to do on my phone and my time is make or receive my phone calls. Since Verizon apparently has a problem sticking to that script, I'm sure there are still others willing to play along...
The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
Your mobile networks suck. It's sucks to be a customer, it even sucks to be an inbound roamer.