Google admits it may place ads on thermostats, glasses, car dashboards & refrigerators
Almost any display, from the wrist to the wall, could be fair game for Google to send advertisements, the company has admitted in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, going as far as to say that even refrigerators could one day serve Google AdSense to their users.
The Electrolux Screenfridge.
Google's list of potential new advertising opportunities was detailed in a letter to the SEC in December, in which the search giant attempted to justify why it shouldn't disclose revenue generated from mobile devices. The SEC has requested that Google and other mobile companies, including Facebook and Twitter, offer investors more detail on their mobile revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal.
But Google doesn't believe it should be obligated to disclose that data, as the company noted that its services -- including advertisements --?could appear on a "wide diversity of devices in the future."
In addition to refrigerators, Google said it could also serve up ads on car dashboards, thermostats, glasses and watches, "just to name a few possibilities."
"Our expectation is that users will be using our services and viewing our ads on an increasingly wide diversity of devices in the future, and thus our advertising systems are becoming increasingly device-agnostic," the filing reads.
Motorola's Moto 360 Andoid Wear-powered smart watch | Source: Google
The mention of thermostats is of particular interest, as Google bought Nest Labs, maker of a smart thermostat, for $3.2 billion earlier this year. Nest was founded by ex-Apple executive Tony Fadell, and the company's products were featured prominently in Apple's own retail stores prior to the Google acquisition.
The mention of glasses and watches is no surprise, as Google is betting heavily on the future of wearable devices, through both its Google Glass project, as well as its forthcoming Android Wear platform. And Google is even dabbling in self-driving cars, which would explain the mention of vehicle dashboards.
Perhaps the most bizarre mention, then, is of a so-called "Google Refrigerator," signaling that the company may be looking to go well beyond the thermostat in building a connected home with advanced appliances.
The Electrolux Screenfridge.
Google's list of potential new advertising opportunities was detailed in a letter to the SEC in December, in which the search giant attempted to justify why it shouldn't disclose revenue generated from mobile devices. The SEC has requested that Google and other mobile companies, including Facebook and Twitter, offer investors more detail on their mobile revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal.
But Google doesn't believe it should be obligated to disclose that data, as the company noted that its services -- including advertisements --?could appear on a "wide diversity of devices in the future."
In addition to refrigerators, Google said it could also serve up ads on car dashboards, thermostats, glasses and watches, "just to name a few possibilities."
"Our expectation is that users will be using our services and viewing our ads on an increasingly wide diversity of devices in the future, and thus our advertising systems are becoming increasingly device-agnostic," the filing reads.
Motorola's Moto 360 Andoid Wear-powered smart watch | Source: Google
The mention of thermostats is of particular interest, as Google bought Nest Labs, maker of a smart thermostat, for $3.2 billion earlier this year. Nest was founded by ex-Apple executive Tony Fadell, and the company's products were featured prominently in Apple's own retail stores prior to the Google acquisition.
The mention of glasses and watches is no surprise, as Google is betting heavily on the future of wearable devices, through both its Google Glass project, as well as its forthcoming Android Wear platform. And Google is even dabbling in self-driving cars, which would explain the mention of vehicle dashboards.
Perhaps the most bizarre mention, then, is of a so-called "Google Refrigerator," signaling that the company may be looking to go well beyond the thermostat in building a connected home with advanced appliances.
Comments
Didn't we all see this coming. This alone will kill sales of these devices. As cool as something like the Nest Thermostat is, I don't believe people will want a Google Ad on their thermostat and I doubt most would pay extra to not have ads. This is something that shouldn't have ads in the first place. Nest killed shot themselves in the foot as soon as they partnered with Google.
I don't need a Kraft Mac n Cheese ad running on the fridge when I go to open it. My kitchen isn't a friggin' Wal-mart. I don't need to be persuaded to purchase something every time I open the refrigerator door.
There are places for ads to be and wearable devices, appliances, and cars are not it. Google is throwing mud at the wall with all of this with hopes that something sticks.
Meanwhile, Google's core product, Internet search, has become useless. Seriously, it's substituting words nowhere near what I entered.
Whereas a television or computer may get more total hours of viewing time, the number of discrete views of a refrigerator is far greater, and goes up with the number of inhabitants in the dwelling.
As a matter of fact, in many households the refrigerator features messages, reminders, and the kids' art gallery.
Completely unsurprising, I don't understand why AppleInsider sees this as bizarre.
Google's core product is AdWords, >90% of their revenue comes from AdWords. That's what they sell.
Google's new corporate tagline: To Serve Man... Ads!
If consumers reject ads on refrigerators and such then I wouldn't expect them to be promoted. Kinda against the point of advertising if it's a turn-off isn't it?
...going as far as to say that even refrigerators could one day serve Google AdSense to their users.
In addition to refrigerators, Google said it could also serve up ads on car dashboards, thermostats, glasses and watches, "just to name a few possibilities."
I think people are misunderstanding what they are saying here. AdSense works like this: You have a website, you let Google have some space on your page where they place relevant ads, you get paid. I know this because I've been doing it for years. The only way you are going to see AdSense ads on your refrigerator is if it has a browser and you surf the web to some page that has Google AdSense running on it. The ads do not live on the refrigerator unless your refrigerator is also a web server in which case you wouldn't see them, you would just get paid.
LOL, Three Nest Thermostats for sale!
Exactly.
The second I see an ad on my Nest, it is coming off the wall.
Samsung should advertise on toilet paper.
[I'm sure it would sell well to quite a few AI members]
Maybe it's just me but I think this watch is ugly. Especially the black bar at the bottom. Seems to me these round displays are all about form over function. Hey, if we make it look like a traditional watch maybe someone will buy it.
Samsung should advertise on toilet paper.
[I'm sure it would sell well to quite a few AI members]
They would certainly wipe out the competition.
Not necessarily. The Nest has a display and an Internet connection. Google could push ads to the display any time they wanted to. The iOS Nest app could have pop up ads just like nearly every app. Anything with a display is free game to google.
Then it wouldn't be AdSense as the article claims. In the first fake image the refrigerator is showing Google search results with AdWords not AdSense. Just more AI hype.
Google doesn't say that advertising will appear on these other systems. They use the possibility as an argument against splitting out mobile revenue specifically since thermostats, refrigerators and the like wouldn't fit that category. In other words there could be more than two categories, mobile and desktop, at some future point and starting to define revenue by specific source now could become problematic from both an investor and competitive angle.
If consumers reject ads on refrigerators and such then I wouldn't expect them to be promoted. Kinda against the point of advertising if it's a turn-off isn't it?
They should just create a new category for the Internet of Things and move all of their revenue there.
Ads on every surface you look at? The thought is enough to make one throw up.