Google Forbids Advertising On Glass

An anonymous reader writes "Contrary to widespread thought, Google Glass will not be an advertising platform: 'Google Inc has lately told app developers that they are not allowed to present ads to Google Glass users and they are also not permitted to sell users' personal and private information for the fulfillment of advertising needs. The internet company has explicitly and openly said that the Glass platform should and must be clean and clear of any ads whatsoever, because the technology is designed to facilitate internet browsing and other related activities, therefore, the featured podium cannot be used to advertise products as it will cause the user experience to diminish.' Seems like Google is going for hardware-only revenue on this one." You're not supposed to resell the Glass hardware, either.

Comments

I think I'll wait for something Free

[Anonymous Coward]

As in libre Free. You can't prevent ads without either an onerous EULA with over-the-top enforcement or some hardcore DRM.

I'd rather have an open/Free device. It's too bad Google has done away with the "Do no evil" mantra. :(

Re:I think I'll wait for something Free

[bfandreas]

This also means that users can simply uninstall the app. Since it isn't Google that's doing the ads it shhould be fairly easy to get rid of the offender.

People will not ever get used to having apps constantly and without provocation pushed into their face. You know what you get when you load a website. You know what you get when your turn on your TV or radio. But walking down the street just to have the latest Amazon sale pushed into your peripheral vision will mean that the app will be deinstalled.

What it won't prevent is showing those email notifications of that shop you once did business with and that has been pestering you ever since. And you will get solicited ads when you ask where to go for lunch. These informations will propably be pulled right off Google Maps and I highly suspect that this is where Google will be making its money.

Also bear in mind that this thing isn't always on. You will either have to wake it up by fondling it or sloooowly lifting your head. So shoving unsolicited ads into your vision wouldn't work most of the time since it most likely will be turned off. Battery life isn't that good on that thing to have it turned on the whole day.

Re:I think I'll wait for something Free

[Lumpy]

"You can't prevent ads without either an onerous EULA with over-the-top enforcement or some hardcore DRM."

So my blocking hosts file in my android phone is "hardcore DRM"? I prevent ads on my android devices just fine.

Just means they will make their money another way

[ModernGeek]

I have a hard time believing that they will make all their revenue on hardware alone. They will have access to search and activity data combined with a feed that shows people's whereabouts and habits. This marketing data will be worth way more than any direct advertising.

Hardware revenue?

[Anonymous Coward]

> Seems like Google is going for hardware-only revenue on this one

Or, you know, collecting user data such as location, what the user is looking at and browsing, and so on. Which then in turn can be used to target advertising.

Whatever

[afxgrin]

They say this now but after Microsoft or Apple sell an ad supported product for cheaper they'll change their minds quickly.

Contrary to widespread thought...

[rodrigoandrade]

Contrary to widespread thought, Google Glass will not be an advertising platform... yet!

Lol

[TheSkepticalOptimist]

But "sponsored notices" I am sure will be fully supported.

Cable TV

[femtobyte]

Remember how Cable TV started out with no advertisements, to give people a good reason to plunk down big wads of cash every month for stuff like what they got free over the airwaves? Remember how short that lasted, once cable acceptance picked up? This no-ads/tracking thing is just a phase to get Google Glasses in front of everyone's eyeballs; then we'll get ads full blast.

Re:Cable TV

[femtobyte]

No, the first models won't be recording all the time; no they won't hide anything. By the time Google enables recording, it'll be perfectly in the open and normal ("what kind of tinfoil-hatted nutter would care about a few frame grabs in return for all these nifty free services?") --- and it won't matter what your personal privacy votes are, because your visiting house-guests will record your life and habits for you. People choose to pay for stuff all the time --- and still get ads/tracking/intrusiveness added in to paid products. If it's a conspiracy to think that gGlass will follow the same patterns of increasing advertiser pervasiveness as TV, ebooks, music, games, credit cards, magazines, search engines, etc., then I guess I am a conspiracy nut.

Re:Just means they will make their money another w

[prelelat]

I think you're totally correct,

While apple has been about the walled garden, google has been about the green valley with large high hills surrounding that discourage you to leave(but you can). Google is into building devices and products that make you use their other services that generate more value through advertisement and data collection. Google doesn't need to get your money from google glass after you buy it, because chances are you are going to use google.com, gmail and probably other services as well from them. These as we all know already track the information they are banning on glass anyways. The device is made to drive users to the other advertisement revenue streams and the larger the adoption of it(like the android phones) the larger their market share is for other services.

Most of the people I know that use an android phone use gmail and google search built in as well as their play store and some of the other apps. This is the driving force behind android and glass.

Hardware Only? False Conclusion

[Bob9113]

Seems like Google is going for hardware-only revenue on this one.

That conclusion is not supported by the fact that Google does not allow advertising on Google Glass. Google Glass is not exclusively an output device, it is also a sensor array. The data collected by the sensor array would be very valuable to Google's surveillance and analytics programs. Whether Google will store, use, or distribute any of the data collected by the Google Glass sensors has not, as far as I know, been addressed.

Generally speaking, Google seems to have a very solid understanding that it is inexpensive to store data and a significant opportunity cost to discard it.

Re:Just means they will make their money another w

[Cinder6]

It's important to note that only third-party developers are prohibited from placing ads; Google isn't bound by the same rules. My tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory says they want to get people used to Glass first, and then start slowly implementing ads until they feel commonplace and accepted. If Glass is plastered with ads from the beginning, no one will use it, and Google knows this.

That said, it would be great if it never has ads. I would be willing to pay more (were I in the market for Glass) for no ads on a device such as this.

Re:Just means they will make their money another w

[amRadioHed]

They don't want you selling it because it's a development device that is only being sent to a select group of people. Your reason doesn't even make sense, if it was sold the new owner would obviously use it with their own account.

Re:No ads? Only until it's built up in market shar

[93 Escort Wagon]

The relevant quote in the article is "At the moment, there are no plans..."..

Re:Just means they will make their money another w

[ElectricTurtle]

They are giving you something, otherwise not only would nobody pay for it, they wouldn't use it even if it were free. I get so sick of all the something-for-nothing entitlement attitude that pervades society these days. Heaven forbid that companies actually make money to pay their costs, employees, and have some kind of, you know, profit for their shareholders. Google does this by selling data, boo fucking hoo. Meanwhile the people giving them data get in return free (huge) email, free phone service, free online storage, free office-oriented web apps, etc. etc.

For glass they get all sorts of services delivered in real time in a non-obtrusive but always visible way. Some people will find this useful enough to BOTH pay for and give Google data. If people don't know what's really involved, whose fault is that really? Go into any court and argue 'but your honor, I didn't read the contract I signed' and see how far that goes. You'll be lucky if they don't laugh at you while dismissing your case. People need to be responsible for themselves, and stop expecting that "free" means they give nothing. It just means they don't have to tender money. Everything beyond that is up to contract terms. Ugh. I blame parents. My parents sure as hell didn't let me grow up thinking I was owed anything, or that I could just flop around the world hoping somebody else would be responsible for my interests/rights. Fucking grow up people. Being an adult is more than just age, you have to take control of your own life and go to the trouble of understanding the framework you live in.

And all you wankers who defend the ignorant, knock it off. You're not helping them.

Re:Just means they will make their money another w

[amRadioHed]

It's not a phone, it's a Bluetooth accessory. And the price hasn't been set at $1500. We have no idea what they will be selling this for when it gets released, but over $1000 seems incredibly unlikely.