Apparently the primary business model with in-car GPS devices is to keep selling you updated maps. Then there's Google Maps, where they give away the equivalent data for free, though they include advertising. It sounds like a good idea to try and get an in-car GPS using free Google Maps data, but I suspect most map publishers would try a different approach.
A company attempting ad-supported maps for in-car GPS would probably get the idea, sooner or later, that the ads need to be spoken rather than visual. Otherwise the driver is likely to miss them, and the advertising dollars are wasted. Then advertisers who realise their spoken ads are being played to drivers who are navigating will submit them with phrases like "Turn left here for delicious Joe's Burgers!". Consumers, annoyed with the faux-directions, will stop using their navigator and bad-mouth the manufacturer (not to mention the advertisers) to everyone they know.
Mokalus of Borg
PS - Ad-supported content never seems to go well for anyone involved.
PPS - Except Google, who keep the ads low-key and relevant.
2 comments:
the iphone uses google maps, not ad supported though. but it doesnt have spoken directions, which is annoying cause you haveta keep looking at your phone to see where you are supposed to be turning. but other than that, it is a pretty good map system.
Google Maps is indeed an awesome map system. I think it will become the default choice when in-car computers with mobile broadband take over from stereos.
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