Your Car May Soon Start Serving You Ads (siliconbeat.com) 310
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.
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.
Sigh (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Guess I'm sticking with my '77 olds. But I already get served ads in that too, the radio still works...
Depending on the country. Most have abandoned AM and some are turning off FM now. Some new cars don't have FM radios anymore. Between mobile phone streaming, satellite, digital broadcasts and good old USB sticks, analog radio is on the way out.
Re: (Score:3)
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 m
Radio? (Score:2)
I ditched that the minute I was able to connect an MP3 player to my stereo.
Re: (Score:2)
AM won't go away any time soon. Aside from the longer range and low cost, it's seem as a alternative to digital radio where reception is poor. The spectrum is also less valuable than higher frequencies so there is less benefit to turning it off.
I finished working on a brand new AM receiver last year, to supply to countries where FM is being turned off.
Re: (Score:2)
Tell that to the people in Norway that recently turned off the FM net and now only offers DAB.
Re: (Score:2)
Why? They don't have any oil, do they?
FM vs DAB (Score:3)
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 [wikipedia.org] (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
Re: (Score:2)
If not that, there's always the billboards.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Sigh (Score:4, Interesting)
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 (Score:2)
I'm seriously considering this. It feels like giving in to extortion. But I really really hate seeing ads.
Re: (Score:2)
Every time I open my Kindle Paperwhite I do not regret paying $20, it is amazing to open the cover and be reading instantly. Plus you get some more screen real estate on the home screen without the banner ad on the bottom when looking through your collection of books.
The Kindle Fire was only $15, but it does feel faster, it's at least much quicker to open now that it doesn't have to stop and load ads, especially the animated ones. I don't see a setting to have it automatically unlock like the Paperwhite do
Re: Sigh (Score:5, Insightful)
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....
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Sigh (Score:5, Informative)
I have one of the old e-ink display kindles. No ads or bullshit. It displays pictures of famous authors when "off".
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If this works as well as ads in web pages (Score:4, Funny)
Re:If this works as well as ads in web pages (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.
Re:If this works as well as ads in web pages (Score:5, Insightful)
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: (Score:2)
That's why they favour product placement now. Waze has been doing it for years, you see random business highlighted on the map as landmarks. If you open the restaurant search it suggests the brands that paid first.
With car integration I imagine it will start highlighting petrol stations when you get below 75% fuel remaining, for example.
Re: (Score:2)
And that would mean having to learn to spell.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
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 (Score:5, Insightful)
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: (Score:3)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Ha! (Score:5, Funny)
This is not a problem I'm likely to have!
Re: (Score:2)
On another note: fuck that, my car is my private oasis of tranquility (when I'm not yelling at other drivers) and I intend to keep it that way. Screw your naviSPAM system, TeleSPAM, keep this garbage to yourselves.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know...adding even more distractions to the cellphone using, text-messaging crowd who sometimes pay attention to the road they are driving on sounds like an excellent method for thinning the herd.
Re: (Score:2)
If they only thinned themselves I'd be cool with that. The problem is there are others of us out there still and until work is (and I am) good with telecommuting, I have to deal with these idiots. Time to break out the Recoilless Cannon for the car I guess.
[John]
Re: (Score:2)
Personally, I'd go with the Sound of Silence. Only need 79 or so of those USB Bluetooth dongles, paired with a few 10-port hubs, hooked up to a single laptop to make a moving wall of silence (among other things). No WiFi, no Bluetooth, no problem. Bonus points if you use a waveguide.
Re:Ha! (Score:4)
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: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
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 w
Nope (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.
Re: (Score:2)
*Perhaps* for self-driving cars, but car manufacturers are SUPER paranoid about driver distraction
Is that why they project stuff on your windshield now?
Personally, I find that very distracting.
To say nothing about non-red/amber lights. Some newer cars make you feel you're sitting in a christmas tree.
Re: (Score:2)
I had a relative that contracted for some vehicle manufacturer's for a bit. A project manager "designed" the UI and the team wasn't allowed to deviate from it. Don't blame the UX experts because chances are they got overruled.
Re: (Score:2)
I was wondering if they were going to tie it into the GPS to make sure that you were actually at a traffic light or stop sign if you were stopped and not waiting to merge into traffic as you are going on/coming off the highway. Or stopped to let an emergency vehicle by or stopped for a school bus when the whole point is to have your attention looking out for pedestrians.
Not perhaps (Score:4, Interesting)
There is a reason Google is one of the corporations throwing a fuck load of money at self-driving cars; namely a captive audience.
Re: (Score:2)
Help a simple guy like me out (Score:3, Insightful)
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: (Score:2)
Not really. There's usually a lot more discussion about `leveraging' things and `reaching out' to `stakeholders'.
Re: (Score:2)
> do they *really* talk to each other like this, or do they think that guys like me are that stupid?
yes and yes.
Re: (Score:3)
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 mon
GIANT MIDDLE FINGER (Score:5, Informative)
Any car that comes with ads will not be purchased by me.
Re: (Score:2)
Any car that comes with ads will not be purchased by me.
They've come with ads for a long time now. Some GPS systems show the logo of nearby stores and restaurants if they pay the car manufacturer a fee.
And service reminders taken over by an Amazing Offer to activate Sirius XM for FREE for two months.
Re: (Score:2)
I'll consider it if they pay my going rate to rent the ad space. â100 per ad when stationary, or â1000 per ad when moving seems reasonable.
The Moment that happens (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
My car? (Score:2)
They can get my 2002 Honda to do that? These people are some kinda stable genius.
Don't forget (Score:2)
to take the duct tape with you when you take that 'self drived' trip.
Re: (Score:2)
How big of a roll will I need? I'm not sure how many female hitchhikers there will be on the road to California.
There is an alternative (Score:5, Insightful)
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: (Score:3)
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. :)
Re: (Score:2)
How to lose a customer for life (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.
Re: (Score:2)
So you're simply not going to drive any more. That's ok with them, you don't have enough market share on your own to influence anything.
The issue is that it won't be one company doing it, they'd get creamed in the market, it will be all the big companies doing it, so people will just accept it as if it's normal (see TV, the internet, etc)
Re: (Score:2)
I'll stick to my motorcycles then. I tend to get older cars and trucks for general running around but with Amazon on the way to delivering everything, I may never have to leave the house (I'm kinda fine with that in general :) ).
[John]
Re: (Score:3)
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: (Score:2)
I'll just uninstall their system, buy older cars, or even build my own before I submit to my car being always connected.
Re: How to lose a customer for life (Score:2)
Depending how the connected systems are built, one can imagine some amusing aftermarket mods.
"On GPS, my car has been parked at the summit of Mt Everest for the past three years."
Re: (Score:2)
There will be autos without these features, it's a certainty.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, that is the problem. I'd like to have cell phones that didn't track my activities, but I don't have that option.
OTOH, I'd be surprised if ads in cars became popular because unlike tracking they are too obviously invasive. I think that audio recording of conversations in cars to "improve customer experiences" and "enhance safety" are much more likely.
Re:How to lose a customer for life (Score:4, Interesting)
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!
Already dislike this in Waze (Score:2)
Waze does this today (sometimes), which I find pretty annoying. If it happened in a car that I purchased I think I would be tempted to take the car back. If the car were free, maybe I'd accept it.
I can definitely see this happening in subscription cars though. Still might put up with in in that case, tape cardboard over the screen.
what other industry does that? (Score:2)
Makes you pay more to avoid services you didn't want in the first place? Coming next, car seats lined with spikes - you pay extra to reduce the frequency of their springing out and jabbing you in the spine. I hope car buyers will avoid vehicles tricked out like this - spiked seats AND advertisements - and Telenav vanishes quickly.
Re: (Score:2)
What other industry?
Off the top of my head:
- Cell phones
- Internet assistants
- many IOT devices
- computers
- internet routers
- ISPs
- TVs
- Radio broadcast
- many web pages
That's just off the top of my head, and just the ones that do it in large bulk at the moment, however just wait, because almost EVERY industry is salivating at exactly this possibility, and the list of ones actually doing it is growing longer by the minute.
No. Just No. (Score:5, Insightful)
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?
Re: (Score:2)
Because you can afford a truck.
Re: (Score:2)
Trucks are inexpensive compared to cars. I drive a truck because it's the cheapest way to get 4 wheel drive, and also, I need to haul stuff - hay, firewood, etc. In fact, I'm not sure what your point was.
Re: (Score:2)
You must not have purchased a truck in the last decade. Top trim packages are hitting $90k.
Stopped at traffic lights = IN TRAFFIC (Score:4, Insightful)
> 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: (Score:2)
It won't prevail. Because PROFIT. Because MONEY. Because CAPITALISM.
Re:Stopped at traffic lights = IN TRAFFIC (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Make lists of the brands and never buy their cars (Score:2)
Ensure customers looking for a new car online find the warning about ads in cars before they consider that new car.
Defective by design and to avoid will be the results found, not your brands good reviews.
Sell ads with a car, enjoy the online comments and news about the car with ads to avoid.
The more a company tries to sell a car with ads the more the internet will inform people considering that brand and year o
Low Tech Version: (Score:2)
Within this vale
Of toil and sin
Your head grows bald
But not your chin
Burma Shave
Less connectivity in cars (Score:2)
>> owners will pay more for connected-car services if they decline the ads.
I already won't buy any "connected car". I purposely avoid GM (onstar) and Tesla cars just for that reason.
If it gets to a point where you literally can't buy any unconnected car any more, I'd either build my own or only buy cars where you can still hack the connectivity hardware out.
Re: (Score:2)
"Hack" is a very broad term.
I'm sure car community sites would figure out where the cell chip or cell radio is located. It may take a bit of digging in the vehicle to find the board, but likely only take a twist of a screwdriver or a slice with a utility knife to render the thing inoperable. There will be youtube videos and howto articles within days of the vehicle hitting the streets.
Probably only a small percentage of owners would use
Re: (Score:2)
The internet is laden with reports from people who have tried to disable/remove the Onstar radio that comes compulsorily built-in to all GM brand cars (so Chevvy, Buick etc).
Some people with older models have success, but its amazing how "coincidentally" many people find right after they disable Onstar all sorts of problems with what would logically be totally unrelated systems (commonly the cruise control and other miscellaneous engine lights) start happening that would require you to take the car to a dea
Re: (Score:2)
And at that point, I might just have to turn into a car enthusiast to build my own kit car, or keep one from 30 years ago running.
Re: (Score:2)
Ford (Score:2)
"Auto makers including Toyota, Lexus, Ford, GM and Cadillac already use the company's connected-car products, the spokeswoman said. "
I don't know about the others above, but Ford's (you don't have any...) privacy policy SUCKS, so I don't use their services. It's only going to get worse. I can not use their services now, but it's not too far over the horizon where they're mandatory and you'll basically have a shrink-wrap license/privacy policy for you car that you'll have to accept in toto just to be able
at traffic lights??!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
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!
Sad (Score:2)
Why, you ask? Apparently, advertising sells stuff. But I wonder what sort of personality sits around and waits for an ad from - the TV? The radio? a magazine? A website? His f-ing CAR? to tell him or her how to dispose of any cash or credit balance he or she may have lying around.
Shouldn't it work like: "Hmm. My shirt collar is frayed so I think I will go to Nordstrom's where I buy all my shirts and buy another one."?
Do people REALLY hear an ad for two fidget spinners for the price of one, forget about the
New driving experiences from ads? (Score:2)
... as well as new driving experiences that come from the highly-targeted and relevant offers delivered based on information coming from the vehicle."
What a HUGE pile of crap. Someone has been smoking too much crack and, quite frankly, not drinking enough Kool-Aid [wikipedia.org].
Easily fixed... (Score:2)
... with several strips of duct tape. (Yeah, yeah... I know the display is used for other things.)
Seriously... with smartphone storage capacity as large as it is, who hasn't already downloaded a metric ton of MP3s to their phones that they can listen to in the car obviating the need for an online connection?
This company is selling a solution in search of a problem. I don't see this addressing any problems encountered by drivers.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't even try it (Score:2)
What I find interesting is... (Score:2)
... that advertisers don't seem to be willing to acknowledge that they are annoying, unwelcome, and unloved for the most part. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between (I thought the Bud Lite frog ads were kinda cute, but they got old fast. The Clydesdale ads were a bit better, but they got old too.)
I never use my smart phone to browse any sites but my own. The Madison Ave. crowd seems to go wild when someone uses an iPhone on their sites to the point that I refuse, absolutely, to do so.
It see
Make This Unlawful (Score:2)
Waze already does this.
It's fscking infuriating. A distraction is still a distraction, even when the vehicle's stopped. Fsck, it's even more of distraction when stopped, one of the few times I can actually devote attention to the map to see where I'm going next, only to have the whole $(GOD)-damned thing squatted over by a piece of paid vandalism screaming about the shitty
Obligatory Futurama (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.
On engine start? This will end well... (Score:2)
Just like your smart phone (Score:2)
It would be huge red flag to buying that brand (Score:2)
Re: To paraphrase Bill Hicks... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Besides, I don't want ANY of this shit!!! Off-setting costs for all this garbage that I DO NOT WANT! Fucking corporate nonsense...
Re: (Score:2)
Given that the cheapest internet service you can get for a phone is $50/mo, I'm surprised they include this in cars. A standard port to plug devices in would make more sense I think. Especially as all of this stuff becomes obsolete before it's driven off the lot.
Re: (Score:3)