Your Car May Soon Start Serving You Ads (siliconbeat.com)

An anonymous reader quotes SiliconBeat: Santa Clara auto-tech firm Telenav has just announced an "in-car advertising platform" for cars that connect to the internet. Telenav wants to sell the system to major auto manufacturers. And although it's probably the last thing many consumers want, vehicle owners will pay more for connected-car services if they decline the ads. "This approach helps car makers offset costs related to connected services, such as wireless data, content, software and cloud services," a spokeswoman for Telenav said Jan. 5. "In return for accepting ads in vehicles, drivers benefit from access to connected services without subscription fees, as well as new driving experiences that come from the highly-targeted and relevant offers delivered based on information coming from the vehicle."

Auto makers including Toyota, Lexus, Ford, GM and Cadillac already use the company's connected-car products, the spokeswoman said. Telenav CEO H.P. Jin in a press release called the ad platform "an exciting new opportunity" for vehicle manufacturers to "monetize connectivity to cover service costs and even drive healthy profits while enriching the consumer experience with safely delivered, engaging and relevant offers"...

To prevent driver distraction, "ads only appear when the vehicle is stopped, such as at car startup, traffic lights and upon arrival," Telenav said... Of course, driver distraction won't be an issue in self-driving cars, and this technology suggests the captive audiences in those vehicles will likely be subjected to an ad barrage in robotic ride-sharing vehicles and automated cars whose owners decline to pay more to avoid in-car advertising.

Comments

Sigh

[Fly Swatter]

Guess I'm sticking with my '77 olds. But I already get served ads in that too, the radio still works...

Re:Sigh

[Dayze!Confused]

I recently just paid Amazon to stop serving me ads on my two kindle devices. I can now open my Kindle Paperwhite and NOT have to swipe to start reading. My Kindle Fire feels like it loads faster too without having to display ads, especially the animated variety. The entire time I had them not once had a relevant ad ever been posted, and selling my soul for $20 off just didn't seem worth it any more.

Re:Sigh

[ArchieBunker]

I have one of the old e-ink display kindles. No ads or bullshit. It displays pictures of famous authors when "off".

Re:Sigh

[sound vision]

I hope not.
Back in August I was islanded in my apartment for 3 days after Hurricane Harvey encircled it with water. Mobile networks were down. I have no satellite receiver in my home, and it wouldn't work in a hurricane anyway. No digital receivers either. But I did have two analog radios at my disposal - a phone with an FM tuner, and an old-style boombox. Not because I had went out and bought them in anticipation of the storm, but because they were already there and had been for years. As is the case in most people's homes, cars, workplaces, etc. Without the FM radios there would have been nothing.

Sometimes the most marginal use cases are also the most important. But even with the typical scenario - listening to music in the car - FM performs admirably. (Better than the compression artifacts on Sirius/XM actually. But that's a failure of their particular implementation, not satellite radio generally.)

Re: Sigh

[RightwingNutjob]

They still serve you ads. They push them as notifications and put them at the bottom of newly opened empty tabs. I bought one ad-free for the extra $20 a few years ago and it's the last device I'll ever buy from Amazon.

Re: Sigh

[CrimsonAvenger]

You sound like an Ad for the Paperwhite....

Myself, I've always used Nooks, and have never had to pay extra to dispense with ads, since there are no ads in the first place....

If this works as well as ads in web pages

[NotSoHeavyD3]

You'll pretty much have to stop your car in the middle of the street, turn it off and then start it up again to get the badly programmed ad to go away.

Re:If this works as well as ads in web pages

[Hal_Porter]

Why not have Inline Infotainment? I found out InfoTourettes patented scripting system will add tailored product DIET COKE! placements that don't MARLBORO LIGHTS! LO FAT VEGETARIAN SALAD! disrupt the flow of the article TAMPONS! WONDERBRA! and adapt your site's likely audience PONIES! so as not to annoy them or seem intrusive PERSONAL TRAINERS! MANOLO BLAHNIKS!

You probably haven't even noticed, but I'm using it now. And now InfoTourettes Car edition is available DON'T DRIVE THERE! DRIVE HERE INSTEAD! for all your in car Infotainment needs.

Re:If this works as well as ads in web pages

[rtb61]

People tend to miss the bigger picture. The bigger picture in this case, are ads winning customers or losing customers. Pretty easy to tell, if you and you are not alone, were targeted with an ad in this fashion, they would lose a customer. If the ads are not selling anything, than why pay for the ad. A lot of ads are now about convincing advertisers that ads work, not about selling anything to anyone, except ad space to advertisers. Right now jam a compulsary ad at me and you will lose a customer, no ifs buts or maybe, be wildly rude when trying to sell me something and your product is done, finished, wont be buying it and likely wont be buying anything else from your company.

It seems like they have gone insane recently believing all the digital ad B$ and lost sight of, is that ad gaining customer or losing customers.

Re:If this works as well as ads in web pages

[Z00L00K]

Not to mention the amount of driver distraction it would cause. I'd expect legislation soon to take care of this.

Re:If this works as well as ads in web pages

[Calydor]

Pretty much this. Distraction will be a MAJOR issue.

If I'm stopped at a red light I do not need to be distracted by ads. I'm not allowed to whip out my cell phone and check Facebook in those precious seconds for that exact reason. I need to be aware of the street in front of me so that even when the light turns green I know in advance whether a nice old lady is slowly making her way across and just wasn't fast enough.

I've got enough of an issue with the lights here in Germany requiring me to take my eyes off the road and up to the side to see them rather than being set across the intersection so I constantly see the entire road - if I start getting blared with ads the moment I sit still that will NOT improve traffic safety in any way, shape or form.

Re:If this works as well as ads in web pages

[mjwx]

Pretty much this. Distraction will be a MAJOR issue.

Distraction has to be a major issue. Ads that don't get your attention don't work.

Oddly enough, I feel that we're going to have to legislate against in car advertising... and it will be Europe that will be first.

Ha!

[93 Escort Wagon]

This is not a problem I'm likely to have!

Re:Ha!

[I'm New Around Here]

Username checks out.

On another note: fuck that, my car is my private oasis of tranquility (when I'm not yelling at other drivers) ...

On that note, my horn died yesterday. I used the last minute of its life alerting another driver they were a moron.

Re:Ha!

[Ol Olsoc]

Username checks out.

On another note: fuck that, my car is my private oasis of tranquility (when I'm not yelling at other drivers) ...

On that note, my horn died yesterday. I used the last minute of its life alerting another driver they were a moron.

Was he suitably chastened and vowed to abandon his moronic ways?

The insistence of ramming advertisements into our heads through every possible medium merely dilutes them. And in a world where we have to protect ourselves from the ad servers, it will be only a matter of time before some smartasses figure out how to mess with your car. We live in a world where some fellow gets his jollies by Swatting another and getting him killed. There are lots of sociopaths out there.

My issue is what I am going to do when I need another vehicle. My Jeep is a 2014 model, without any of the crap I see on my friends vehicles, (said crap seems to be responsible for a lot of trips t the dealer for service) but it is getting harder to find what I want, which is modern motor enhancements without the unreliable electronica crap they stick in cars these days.

Nope

[JBMcB]

*Perhaps* for self-driving cars, but car manufacturers are SUPER paranoid about driver distraction to the point that there are strict rules about how fast stuff scrolls on a radio, and what types of information can be shown in certain colors, or flashing, or accompanied with sound. An ad blaring at you while you're waiting for a traffic light to change isn't going to happen. All it would take is one driver to say they were startled by the ad, hit the accelerator and smash into a semi truck, and the lawyers would be falling over themselves to file the first lawsuit.

Help a simple guy like me out

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a plumber so I'm not a fancy guy who hangs out in corporate boardrooms and such. My office is a 97 Econoline.

When these people are all sitting around that big mahogany table, in their fancy suits, do they *really* talk to each other like this, or do they think that guys like me are that stupid? If someone came up to me on the street talking like this, I'd punch them right in the mouth.

"an exciting new opportunity" for vehicle manufacturers to "monetize connectivity to cover service costs and even drive healthy profits while enriching the consumer experience with safely delivered, engaging and relevant offers"...
 

Re:Help a simple guy like me out

[Ol Olsoc]

When these people are all sitting around that big mahogany table, in their fancy suits, do they *really* talk to each other like this, or do they think that guys like me are that stupid?

Not quite like that. That's the marketing department. I'll do a Marketing to Suitspeech translation below.

If someone came up to me on the street talking like this, I'd punch them right in the mouth.

Doood! Anger issues!

"an exciting new opportunity" for vehicle manufacturers to "monetize connectivity to cover service costs and even drive healthy profits while enriching the consumer experience with safely delivered, engaging and relevant offers"...

Okay, translation into suitspeak follows:

This is a disruptive paradigm shifting implementation of a cost center enhancement benefit action item, that will fungibly actualize client-centric, cloud based deliverables. Coupled with seamlessly e-enabling cross platform derivatives, we are foreseeing proactively implemented agents for change, metrics of empowerment, and synergistic monetization.potentialities Weird part is I could say that at a meeting, and people would applaud.

GIANT MIDDLE FINGER

[MikeDataLink]

Any car that comes with ads will not be purchased by me.

The Moment that happens

[oldgraybeard]

I am getting my tool box/scope, etc out and disassembling removing and cutting wires ;) Just my 2 cents

There is an alternative

[Bruce Perens]

I have a paper on Open Cars, written with Lother Determann (a Boalt Hall [Berkeley Law] professor). One of the issues I go over is just how fast the hardware in your car goes obsolete, compared to your phone. Manufacturers want embedded net features because they can have a continuing income after you have purchased the car, from wireless fees (the cellular company kicks back fees to the auto manufacturer) and from advertising and content. But you will end up plugging in a phone less than 2 years old instead of the built-in device.

The problem is worse with self-driving computers. Who wants one more than 2 years old? Not even the state authorities who will license them.

Auto manufacturers would like to solve this by having everyone lease their car. An alternative is for the car to have plugs for self-driving and network features, allowing the user more control. The paper has more detail on the social and legal issues.

I have a 2007 Prius, a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and a Trailmanor travel trailer. Obviously I commute in the Prius and save the big SUV for tasks that need it. When I bought the Jeep, I rejected the connected version and went for a model with a dumber radio. I doubt I'm alone in making that choice.

Re:There is an alternative

[eth1]

Not only is the electronic stuff obsolete quickly, it's also overpriced to the point of absurdity.

The last time a salesdroid tried to get me to pay $3k for a navigation system, I pointed out that I could buy a brand new, top-of-the-line standalone GPS with the latest features and maps every year for the next decade for that money. He didn't have an answer for that. :)

How to lose a customer for life

[MrLogic17]

If I test drive a car that serves up an ad, not only am I not buying that car - I'm black-listing that brand forever.

Bring it on punk - see how fast you can drop market share.

Re:How to lose a customer for life

[green1]

Don't worry, they'll get motorcycles soon enough.
As for older cars. The automakers have been lobbying for years for a maximum age of cars on the road, with all the recent driver assistance "safety" features added, it wouldn't surprise me if they finally get their way. How dare you drive a car without all of that stuff? Think of the children!

Re:How to lose a customer for life

[green1]

Automakers have been lobbying for years for a maximum age of cars on the road, with all the recent driver assistance "safety" features added, it wouldn't surprise me if they finally get their way. How dare you drive a car without all of that stuff? Think of the children!

No. Just No.

[sgage]

If my 'car' (I'm a truck guy) starts 'serving' me ads, I will go ballistic. A man's truck is his own private kingdom. We live in a broken world. Surely there can be somewhere that we can be free of FUCKING ADS! I was in a pretty foul mood before I read this article, but now I am really depressed. Why can't they leave me the fuck alone?

Stopped at traffic lights = IN TRAFFIC

[Anonymous Coward]

> ads only appear when the vehicle is stopped, such as at car startup, traffic lights and upon arrival

God, no. It's all we can do to make it through an intersection because the first person in line is playing on their phone. They don't need the car automatically distracting them as well.

Distracting people behind the wheel of a one ton death rocket is a bad idea, period. Please, oh please let common sense prevail, just this once...

Re:Stopped at traffic lights = IN TRAFFIC

[dohzer]

Making people angry before driving is not going to make the roads any safer.

Am I the only one who fires up an online video, and if a 15 second ad comes on before it, I think "I didn't actually want to watch it that badly", and close the video within 2 seconds.

at traffic lights??!!!!

[iggymanz]

So you are distracted at the traffic light and don't see the kid on a bicycle that is riding along the line of stopped cars, and you then turn and kill him when the light turns green?

Or someone jogging across at the last moment during yellow light?

No. Drivers need to pay attention at the lights!

Not perhaps

[waspleg]

There is a reason Google is one of the corporations throwing a fuck load of money at self-driving cars; namely a captive audience.

Obligatory Futurama

[DontBeAMoran]

Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 21st century?

Fry: Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio, and in magazines, and movies, and at ball games... and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts, and bananas and written on the sky. But not in dreams, no siree.

Re:Ads don't enrich anything

[Alypius]

Curiously, an edition of the Encyclopedia Galactica which conveniently fell through a rift in the time-space continuum from 1000 years in the future describes the Marketing Department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as: "A bunch of mindless jerks who were the first against the wall when the revolution came."

FM vs DAB

[DrYak]

Digital is a trap to set you up for subscription services and to monitor you.

Fun fact :
- digitial isn't a requirement for encryption, Analog signals used to be encrypted too (though they proved to be easier to crack).
- encryption isn't an obligation on digital signal : in lot of countries (e.g.: in europe), DAB is broadcast the exact same way as FM - freely for anyone to catch. No subscription, DRM or whatever. And public channels (those paid by public funds, like taxes or via a separate non-government taxation system - e.g.: in CH) never air advertisement.
The "free for all to catch" also applies to digital TV : at least in Europe modern DVB-T / TNT is as available for anyone to listen to as our grand parent's PAL/SECAM. You don't need to subscribe to some cable procvider if you need TV.

It's on your side of the atlantic pond that every single technology evolution is seen as a giant excuse to monetise the shit out of it.