Mobile carriers to test out tiny ads for tiny screens
Well, it was inevitable really, but get ready for a whole new world of phone based advertisement. Verizon and Sprint Nextel are tiptoeing around the idea of opt in video ads, with plans to test the functionality in March but fears of upsetting consumers, while ESPN is jumping into the fray with Visa, Nike, and Hilton Hotels all lined up to provide video ads to accompany their service. There is currently a code of conduct among carriers that requires you to request every advertisement that a company might want to send, but the carriers are looking into incentives, possibly rate plan discounts, for subscribers to allow targeted and location based advertisement on their phones, without all that inconvenient "asking you first" nonsense. We'd hate to owe our minutes to an infomercial when we need to make an emergency phone call, and we can't wait to see carriers try and charge for the bandwidth these vids will suck up, but we all knew it was coming sooner or later.
[Via Phone Scoop]
