Verizon to Allow Ads on Its Mobile Phones

srizah tipped us to a New York Times article, which has the news that Verizon is going to introduce ads to their phones. The offerings will show up when users browse the internet via their cell service, and will exclude streaming ads that might not work in the mobile format. Sprint began offering ads right on their cell 'deck' in October, and the article indicates that access to cellphone screens is a going concern with online advertisers. From the article: "Even without cooperation from carriers, advertisers have been able to reach consumers visiting off-deck sites, and such marketing has grown in size and in scope. The first advertisers drawn to mobile phones tended to be quick-serve restaurants and hotels -- businesses that people might want access to on the go. But increasingly, there is traditional brand marketing, said Jeff Janer, chief marketing officer for Third Screen Media, a mobile ad management company that pairs advertisers and agencies with providers of mobile content, like USA Today and the Weather Channel."

Advertising on mobile phones

[astonishedelf (845821)]

I was under the impression that we were already paying for the phone service. Granted that there is advertising on Sky and cable services but this is just a drain on battery power. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Re:Advertising on mobile phones

[Salvance (1014001)]

Yes, you're already paying for it ... but the cell phone providers and advertisers are really just looking our for your best interest ... as the article says:

"The interest of advertisers in the medium stems from a theory that ads placed on mobile phones could create a particularly intimate bond with consumers"

Hmmm... interesting theory. I used to work in marketing, and always love how marketing/advertising folks have this idea that everyone loves ads and that ads make their lives better.

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[Evilest Doer (969227)]

Yes, you're already paying for it ... but the cell phone providers and advertisers are really just looking our for your best interest ... as the article says:

"The interest of advertisers in the medium stems from a theory that ads placed on mobile phones could create a particularly intimate bond with consumers"

But I don't want an "intimate bond" with any advertisers! It looks like this whole setup is simply a form of rape.

Re:Advertising on mobile phones

[Thansal (999464)]

nononono

just think of it as suprise sex!

After all, everyone likes sex, and every one like getting suprises, so suprise sex is a double-plus-good thing!

And "popups"? See, it is all related together!

or: How I Learned To Stop Caring and Love The Adds.

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[by Anonymous Coward]

tagged: stickingittoyoufrombothends

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[Cylix (55374)]

Ads make my life better.... just like this crack pipe.

Each puff brings improvement and happines to my world! Just like commercials!

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[hobo sapiens (893427)]

I like the idea. I mean, I figure that the 3000 ads I see daily aren't enough. I think that products should be more strongly inculcated into my counsciousness.

If my phone service provider starts allowing ads on my phone, I will cancel service. I'd hope that everyone else would do the same. You can't tolerate this type of thing, corporations trying to squeeze out every last dollar at the consumer's expense.

Re:Advertising on mobile phones

[Ucklak (755284)]

Isn't it .002 cents or .002 dollars per KB?

Argh

[chanrobi (944359)]

Username: memyself4
Password: memyself

Oh *great*

[scenestar (828656)]

So does this mean subscribers get a fucking discount ?

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[ultranova (717540)]

So does this mean subscribers get a fucking discount ?

No, it means that non-subscribers have to pay extra. After all, not having to watch advertisements on your phone is a privilege, not a right.

That's a good way to loose me as a cell customer

[techmuse (160085)]

I already pay a lot of money for cell phone access. You charge me minutes and money for data access time. If I have to waste some of my money and minutes on advertisements, I will switch cell phone providers. I do not need to be told where to find hotels or shown ads. If I want one, I'll look it up.

Re:That's a good way to loose me as a cell custome

[CapitalT (987101)]

It's called lose not loose LOSE LOSE LOSE GODDAMNIT

pheww... Now I'm ok [/venting]

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[Bassman59 (519820)]

It's called lose not loose LOSE LOSE LOSE GODDAMNIT

PLEASE ... mod parent up! We must do all we can to stop the douchebag losers who insist on spelling lose as "loose."

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[ScrewMaster (602015)]

douchebag losers

Ah, I believe that's "douchbag loosers".

Which is kind of gross, actually.

Re:That's a good way to loose me as a cell custome

[rob_squared (821479)]

Well, since cable providers make you pay for commercials, I can see where there backwards logic comes from. I watched a Dateline episode about advertiers recently and I bet they saw this coming. You see, their research lead them to believe that as advertising becomes more present in daily life it becomes background noise an over time the advertisers must continue to annoy the customer even more to keep their attention.

I fully expect the ad oriented entertainent system to die horribly in 30 years. Either

But that's what they want!

[fireboy1919 (257783)]

They want you loosed! Free from the confinement imposed by non-mobile phones. And being loosed is no reason to find a new cell phone service. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can stazt dealing with problems caused by cell-phones.

Charging you for ads that they make money on is a problem to switch companies, of course, but that's something that you should worry about after you realize that you've been loosed from the confinement imposed by traditional phones. I don't really think you're ready fo

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[jellomizer (103300)]

Well as I see it Advertisments are well and good just as long my next bill is lowered. They Don't charge me for the adds. And they explain in the bill how much I have saved in the adds. If you are paying for a service and you are going to get adds in it they should show you how much you are saving due to these adds.

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[drdanny_orig (585847)]

The day I see unsolicited ads on my cell phone is the day I shitcan my carrier for another one, and I won't care what it costs in termination fees. There's a limit to the amount of bullshit I can put up with.

Re:That's a good way to loose me as a cell custome

[MrNougat (927651)]

I am reminded of a time in the distant past, when I used AOL for DOS when they charged per minute and dialup POPs were 14400bps. It took me forever to figure out why I couldn't connect faster than 2400 baud. Turns out that AOL's POPs were only 14400 in major metro areas; I was not in one, so my POP was 2400 baud.

And then, on each connection, I was "downloading new art" for five minutes. When I finally put all the pieces together (no thanks to the existing AOL support), I canceled immediately.

People are m

I hope the advertisers have small sites...

[jZnat (793348)]

For example, Slashdot has slashdot.org/palm for small displays. Do the advertisers all have optimised sites for mobile phones, or do they all continue to spit out 70+ kB of worthless data?

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[thrillseeker (518224)]

Do the advertisers all have optimised sites for mobile phones, or do they all continue to spit out 70+ kB of worthless data?

There's a difference?

Re:I hope the advertisers have small sites...

[Znork (31774)]

"worthless data?"

As the advertizers have to pay someone to make you view it, and as people pay for, or go to extreme lengths to avoid viewing it, the data can actually be considered negative value, rather than worthless, data.

As such, all advertizing money should be subtracted from GDP reporting. Maybe then we can finally get rid of it.

At least for VX8300

[Rinisari (521266)]

Just about every LG phone can be easily changed to use non-Verizon WAP.
http://vx8300.blogspot.com/2006/08/free-wap-intern et-on-vx8300.html [blogspot.com]

Re:At least for VX8300

[Vengeance (46019)]

Yup, I've done the same thing with my old VX7000, and will be doing the same when I upgrade next month.

But still, even if it doesn't affect me directly, this move rubs me the wrong way. Give me a free phone and *maybe* I'll consider viewing ads on it... Free air time too, come to think of it. Of course, TV started out that way and now we pay to view ads there, too. Must be why I don't watch it much anymore.

Remember, advertisers: The more you tighten your grip, the more of us will slip through your fingers. We don't *want* to be barraged day and night with useless promotioh of inferior products dammit.

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[Evilest Doer (969227)]

Remember, advertisers: The more you tighten your grip, the more of us will slip through your fingers. We don't *want* to be barraged day and night with useless promotioh of inferior products dammit.

Actually, if it weren't for laws, advertisers would be setting up bullet-proof jumbotrons in every neighborhood and blaring ads at us 24/7. I could never understand why something is perfectly legal if the purpose is advertising, but is considered stalking and/or harassment if done as a private person. For inst

Mobile data pricing?

[Keruo (771880)]

Operators here haven't tried the described style of advertising. If I understood it correctly, verizon forces users to use their proxy while browsing, and feeds the ads to customers through it.

I'm not sure about mobile data transfer pricing in US but here in Finland operators charge $(euros)/MB rates depending on plan.
Loading ads while browsing would mean you're actually paying your operator for displaying you ads!

what's in it for me?

[mwilliamson (672411)]

Free cellphone access? Reduced rates? Free internet access from my cellphone in return for these ads?

Yet Another Reason Not To Carry "The Network".

[blcamp (211756)]

Great, not only will they offer terrible service, but now I get an offer to waste my time and bandwidth with advertising.

And whether the advertisers pay for the space (or I would get asked to pay, since it is my phone and service time), it doesn't matter, because I'll be goddamned if I'm going to have a cellphone company foist their own content on me.

All I want to do on my phone and my time is make or receive my phone calls. Since Verizon apparently has a problem sticking to that script, I'm sure there are

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[RESPAWN (153636)]

All I want to do on my phone and my time is make or receive my phone calls. Since Verizon apparently has a problem sticking to that script, I'm sure there are still others willing to play along...

If you're only making and receiving calls on your phone, then you won't see these ads anyway. They only show up when you browse the internet on your phone. Christ. Even that piece of information made it in the description -- you didn't even have to RTFA to find that out.

How long before they insert audio-ads into calls?

[Em Ellel (523581)]

If you're only making and receiving calls on your phone, then you won't see these ads anyway. They only show up when you browse the internet on your phone. Christ. Even that piece of information made it in the description -- you didn't even have to RTFA to find that out.

And how long before audio-ads appear when you call someone? Or before they add ADs in your phone's contact book?

-Em

gizmondo

[minus_273 (174041)]

Didnt the gizmondo try this already? look where they ended up.

Re:

[jasonhamilton (673330)]

... a fireball of flaming Enzo?

The only thing worse then an attorney

[nurb432 (527695)]

Might be a marketing executive.

Personally, i make it a point of not shopping at places that shove their ads in my face. And reward the ones that dont, with my business. not that my little influence in the world will close a company down, but i at least did my part. Have you?

Double Profits - Verizon Screws Customers Again

[amjohns (29330)]

So in addition to charging advertisers for ad space, Verizon will also be charging users for the additional data download. Not just text, but images, and potentially video in the future.

Given Verizon's past on screwing their customers, like locking down BlueTooth features on phones, and even wired data connections on Treo's, why am I not surprised.

What next?

[Rob T Firefly (844560)]

I eagerly await the Java phone port of Bonzi Buddy. [wikipedia.org]

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[jcuervo (715139)]

I, for one, welcome our new...

*clicky*

...wait, what the fuck is that? Is that a goddamned purple gorilla asking me how my day was? I am not welcoming a fucking talking purple gorilla as my new overlord. I'm sorry, I just can't do it.

Loss of competition

[DJ Jones (997846)]

I believe this is an early sign of the conglomeration and monopolization of cell phone carrier services in the U.S. The competition that drove down cell phone prices 5 years ago is on the verge of being suppressed by the success of two or three major service providers. With less competition the consumers are eventually going to see a loss of overall service and an increase in the number of cheap moves like this to increase corporate profits while taking advantage of the consumers limited access to alternat

Ummm... They better check with legal..

[bjk002 (757977)]

IANAL, but it would seem that some of this could fall under many states newly enacted statutes with regard to Unsolicited Advertising [naw.org] [naw.org].

Verizon had better be careful, lest they end up with a barage of class-action lawsuits...

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[cryfreedomlove (929828)]

I don't see it as unsolicited. You have a choice of cell phone providers. If you don't want ads then pick one that does not show ads. You also have the choice of not using cell service at all. There is nothing unsolicited here. Every party enters these agreements voluntarily.

This is on top of text message SPAM...

[b0s0z0ku (752509)]

Certain networks they shall remain nameless seem to be rather cavailer about allowing SMS SPAM to reach users (who then pay 10c per message if they don't have a data plan).

-b.

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[the_humeister (922869)]

Why should they remain nameless? Tell us which ones they are so that we can avoid them before signing a contract!!!

Ads can make you switch

[suv4x4 (956391)]

I don't live in US but my mobile service provider has this annoying habbit of flooding their customers with SMS ads of their latest-and-greatest campaign.

Granted, they sent us the campaign ad once, that's, let's say, bearable. But then they proceeded sending it every day and on every reload. My parents, which have mobiles, are not 100% familiar with the additional features of their mobile phone (besides making you know: phone calls), so those messages confuse them additionally and needless to say every time I receive an SMS I have to go out of my way to stop, open my cellphone, read it, delete it (since it may actually be important).

So this way armed with bad feelings I called them and said "ok, can you please tell your supervisors up the chain that I do not wish to receive any more ads on my personal cellphone, especially I don't wanna receive the same exact SMS message telling me to join your campaign every day. If I wanted to join it, one SMS would be sufficient, thanks".

The answer from the support: "well there's nothing wrong with the ads, I mean: there's also ads on the TV right, if you don't like them, you don't watch them".

Me: "But I pay for this service, why augment it with ads? If I don't want those ads what's the use of sending them to me?"

Support: "Well you also pay for your cable right?"

After a conversation like this you know the root cause of the issue: zero respect for the customer and zero research on what effect their actions have.

Well, guess who's switching to the competition next year (when a new law comes in place that mandates I can keep my phone number..)

How long before that ad's are on the main menu?

[Joe The Dragon (967727)]

And if they make it there don't pay the data bill for them.

Fuck that.

[jcr (53032)]

First time I see spam on my mobile phone, I will drop that vendor like a bad habit.

-jcr

Define offer....

[txsvxn (972752)]

I know that I'm probably old fashioned, but doesn't the word offer indicate the ability to refuse said offer? If a mobile service provider is forcing advertising on you, that's not an offer...to me it's nothing more than the same kind of deal where your neighborhood maffia "offers" you protection against potential damages that might be incurred if you don't pay them.

New way to prevent irritating cell phone users

[banerjek (1040522)]

Interesting concept. Aggravate the cell phone user directly, and then s/he won't want to use a cell phone while driving or at the movies.......

Burnt Offerings

[umbrellasd (876984)]

Sprint began offering ads right on their cell 'deck' in October. Observe that even our /. poster has been reprogrammed by our Advertising Overlords. I would welcome them, but they arrived long ago.

Urgent

[Sloppy (14984)]

We need the software that runs on our phones to be completely seperate from and uninfluenced by the carriers. Phones, like PCs, need to be accountable directly to their owners, not to someone else. We need serving us to be their very first priority. Ads are just one aspect of this conflict of interest, and it's just going to get worse.

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[b0s0z0ku (752509)]

I currently have VZW Mobile Web and think it's overpriced due to it's limited content/capabilities, even at only $5 a month.

Stupid question, but what is VZW Mobile Web? I thought that most unlimited data plans were in the range of $40-$50/mo. Is this some sort of limited deal where you can only access sites "approved and blessed" by the honchos at Verizon Wireless? If so, I'd take a small laptop or PDA over this "service" in a second. Borrowed WiFi connections are very easy to come by.

-b.