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Google Foresees Ads On Your Refrigerator, Thermostat, and Glasses

Posted by Soulskill on from the brought-to-you-by-melancholy dept.

New submitter waspleg sends news of a letter Google sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission in which the tech giant laid out its vision of an ad-filled future. They wrote, "We expect the definition of “mobile” to continue to evolve as more and more “smart” devices gain traction in the market. For example, a few years from now, we and other companies could be serving ads and other content on refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats, glasses, and watches, to name just a few possibilities. Our expectation is that users will be using our services and viewing our ads on an increasingly wide diversity of devices in the future, and thus our advertising systems are becoming increasingly device-agnostic."

12 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. Nope. by danomac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    First thing I'd do is disable networking on these devices.

    1. Re:Nope. by danomac · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just render the ad screen unusable. Why the hell do appliances (especially a fridge) need a screen for? Oh, wait - they want us to buy a fridge every few years because of course the fridge won't work without an operative screen.

    2. Re:Nope. by BasilBrush · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What does a printer need a screen for? Printers used to get by with maybe 3 LEDs for status. Anything more than that was given as status on the computer it was connected to, providing you had more than a basic driver.

      But now, the cheapest sub $50 printers have screens built in. (And a scanner too)

      Screens have got so cheap, there's no reason not to include them in cheap devices, if they can come up with the slightest excuse. A consumer might chose the device with the screen over one without if there's little difference in price.

      And in Google's dystopia, the ones with screens could actually be cheaper, subsidised by the advertising.

      The excuse they'll use to market fridges with screens will probably be some connection to home shopping. Finish the milk? Show the barcode to the built in camera, and the screen will offer the option to order another.

      The camera would be more of a cause for concern, given that people aren't always dressed in the kitchen. Especially given today's news that LG are spying on consumers with their smart-TVs.

    3. Re:Nope. by mlts · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Even better, buy a fridge that doesn't have a screen. Kitchen appliances are going on 60 years without requiring screens, Internet connectivity, or some companies to push ads to them for basic functioning. We don't need them now.

      If one wants to pay for a better refrigerator, doesn't mind venting it, and has either propane or natural gas, buy a two-way (gas/electric) fridge. That way, your stuff stays cold even if there is a multi-day power outage. That is far more useful in the long run than any electronic doodads. If one really wants a screen on the fridge, a low-end Android tablet is a couple C-notes, and $5 gets you a roll of double-sided tape.

  2. Re:a future filled with black tape by i+kan+reed · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wait until they scan your behavior and lower the temperature until you remove the black tape.

  3. A different race to the bottom by Kardos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If adverts get that pervasive, the value of each one is going to decline substantially. If I see 40 adverts before breakfast, I can't possibly buy each and every one of the products. There's only so much disposable income. If this gets pushed out, it's going to be self defeating.

    1. Re:A different race to the bottom by Overzeetop · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We passed that point decades ago.

      --
      Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  4. Re:news at 11. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Publicly-traded technical advertising company announces expectation of profit in advertising on tech devices. Stop the presses.

    Much of Slashdot (and others) still seems to have a problem recognizing that Google is an advertising company. All their cool stuff is to support this core business.

  5. FG by AndyKron · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Do no evil? FUCK GOOGLE

  6. Re:better question... by ggraham412 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If enough people do take that tradeoff, eventually you won't ever be able to buy an ad free Fridge for $2000 because they'll stop making them.

  7. Mike Judge is a prophet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just watch Idiocracy

  8. The more they advertise, the more I ignore by ewibble · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think advertisers are shooting themselves in the foot with this, I have recently noticed just don't believe a word any of them say anymore, Its like I am building up an immunity to them, and they need to create bigger and bigger lies, ops I mean deceptions.

    Before I saw a sale advertised as "Demolition", I went in and it was 10% off, well I could negotiate that any time, hardly a demolition sale, now I just don't even bother going in. If I need something I go in sure, but I don't go in because of a sale or stated discount, because they are so likely to be lying that it is not even worth the effort step inside the shop to find out.

    My daughter asked me how much I believed the advertisements on TV, and I said not at all, I then started paying attention to the ads and rating if I believed them, and if i thought they where using hiding some important fact from me. The answer was unless it was a public service ad where they where not trying to sell me something, like don't speed, I didn't believe them at all. And even public service advertisements I think they are fudging the truth in order for them to get me to do what they think is best for me.

    What we need to do is start charging to be advertised to, I think this specifically applies to junk mail, which goes directly in the bin, since I have to pay to dispose of it.