Facebook and Cisco Offer Check-In Service For Free Wifi

Posted by timothy on Thursday October 3, 2013 @03:31AM from the if-the-trade-makes-sense dept.

cagraham writes "According to TechCrunch, Facebook and Cisco are now expanding their joint "Facebook Wifi" program nationwide. The service directs customers who connect to a store's wifi to a landing page where they are encouraged to "check-in" to the business in order to be connected. While users can currently opt out of this and still be connected, the "skip this" button is noticeably difficult to find. The free software integrates with businesses existing routers and providers. Facebook provides reports to participating businesses as well, complete with anonymized aggregate data on the demographics of the customers who checked-in."

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Congratulations by Dexter+Herbivore · 2013-10-03 03:33 · Score: 4, Insightful

"Congratulations, we'll give you a service that lots of people offer for free,as long as you earn us money!" - Facebook
"May I tether to your phone?" "Go away, expletive" by tepples · 2013-10-03 05:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

Why connect to a free and often slow/overloaded wifi when most people get acceptable 3/4G service around town ?
Because not everybody is willing to pay hundreds of dollars per year for 3/4G, and some people are too shy to ask random individuals to let them tether to their device.