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View Full Version : Windows Phone 7 an "Ad Machine"? Don't Believe the Hype


Jason Dunn
06-29-2010, 10:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225701518&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All' target='_blank'>http://www.informationweek.com/news...RSSfeed_IWK_All</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"According to Mallios, Microsoft will allow advertisers to send push notifications to peoples' devices through a new platform called Toast. Toast will serve ads to the devices much the same as Apple's iAd will serve ads to iPhones. Advertisers will even be able to push ads to phones even when the application isn't running. The ads will drop down from the top of the phone's screen to let users know there's an offer. Again, that sounds horrible to me."</em></p><p>Complaining about online ads is a fashionable pastime, and Information Week's Eric Zeman is concerned that a quote from&nbsp;Kostas Mallios, Microsoft's general manager for Strategy and Business Development, means that Windows Phone 7 will somehow be significantly different from other phones on the market when it comes to serving ads. The reality? Microsoft needs to be competitive with Google, who bought AdMob, and Apple, who bought Quattro Wireless. If Microsoft wants the best developers to come to the Windows Phone platform, they need to provide strong&nbsp;monetization&nbsp;options for those developers. You're not going to see Microsoft do anything crazy here - they can't afford to, regardless of how you interpret the quote from Mallios.</p><p>I don't mind ads, as long as they're not obtrusive ads - pop-ups, full-page whizzy Flash ads, etc. So as long as the ads on a free Windows Phone 7 application aren't irritating, I have no objection to them. Hopefully most developers will offer paid, ad-free versions of their apps.</p>

Fellwalker
06-29-2010, 10:24 PM
Pop Up Toast already exists and happens on my windows mobile 6.5 phone. It is the screen that appears whenever interaction is required.

I can see it running as a separate program when I use the task switcher app. that I installed.

As an advert is looking for interaction (perhaps clicking a web link) I imagine it uses this process.

Fritzly
06-30-2010, 12:17 AM
I do not mind ads if I chose to use a free/ads supported application; in any other scenario would be unacceptable.

Said that having apps pushing ads even when they are not running seems a little bit to much; there is ahuge risk of backfire. Time will tell as things will evolve.

doogald
06-30-2010, 02:16 AM
I do not mind ads if I chose to use a free/ads supported application; in any other scenario would be unacceptable.

If ads are the difference that allows what would be a $20 application to sell for $5, I'd say that's ok, too. I can ignore 'em, just like I do on TV, etc.