Pay-For-Visit Advertising

theodp writes "US patent office documents released Thursday show that a startup named Pelago is seeking a patent covering Pay-For-Visit Advertising, which uses GPS, Bluetooth, or RFID on your mobile devices to track your travels to see if you wander into a place of business that appeared in an ad shown earlier on your cellphone, PDA, or laptop. To maximize ad revenue, phone calls are also tracked to see if you dial a number associated with an ad, and financial transactions are examined to see if you make a purchase from an advertiser. The application goes on to note that the system may be of interest to government agencies. Pelago just raised $7.4M from the likes of KPCB and Jeff Bezos."

Comments

no thanks

[stoolpigeon]

i've got to think that this will create a market for phones that wont allow this kind of thing to happen. i'd go without a cell phone before i'd let myself be tracked like that everywhere i go.

Can't I just have the chip implanted already?

[PoliTech]

I really dont want to carry all those gadgets around, especially at the beach. So if you could just inject that RFID tag into my neck right here...

Consumer participation required?

[ricebowl]

From reading the synopsis it seems that it would require the participation/consent of the mobile phone user to allow tracking. From activating bluetooth visibility, or accepting a phone with an RFID feature. It'd be interesting to see if this has any similarity to the oft-rumoured GPhone.

But why would a consumer, given the relatively low prices of cell phones, tariffs and contracts, accept this? I'm speaking from the UK but I can't imagine that US cell contracts, etc, are so prohibitively expensive that this would be an attractive form of subsidy. Especially given the potential 'government interest.'

Now I will generate revenue for somebody

[crovira]

without my knowledge of who, what or where, just by going to work everyday.

1. Set up a surveillance society,
2. Watch everybody all the time,
3. ???
4. Profit

Steps 1 & 2 are already happening whether we want them to or not. Its a done deal.

But the greedy little prick wants to patent it too.

God I wish I had balls that big.

Re:So basically...

[DogDude]

The privacy implications are mind boggling

The privacy implications of a phone that reports back to ad agencies isn't nearly as mind boggling as the Fed's new law that says all US/international communications can be bugged with no search warrant needed. The American way of life is already long gone. The problem is that nobody seems to care.

Re:Can you say "Minority Report"

[cerelib]

Here is the scary thing. I think most marketing professionals saw Minority Report and said, "That's the greatest idea ever!"

I have two simple, effective words for Pelago...

[fallen1]

Fuck. You.