Your phone likely has GPS built right into it, and a new marketing effort called “inference advertising” allows advertisers to serve ads to users based on their location as well as their social activity.
“What we’re trying to do is change advertising from intrusive to invited,” said Bill Gross, CEO of UberMedia. “The whole focus of UberMedia is to show the right ad at the right time, to the right person.”
For example, predictive ad software would recognize that a customer liked Shin Megami Tensei IV on Facebook and combine that with knowledge of his GameStop visits to serve up ads for other RPGs like Ni No Kuni and show the nearest GameStop where the game could be found. Ads using UberMedia are already used in about 100 apps, even apps such as the LA Times‘ app and Echofon.
UberMedia’s predictive ads are working, according to Gross. These predictive ads achieve a click-through rate between 5 and 10 percent, 10 to 20 times more effective than average rates, and UberMedia takes a flat rate of 30 percent off of ad sales.
Privacy concerns are an issue, but Gross feels UberMedia has it handled. Users can opt out if they want by turning the capability in the phone’s settings or emailing UberMedia. No third-party information is sold and tracking is only seen by the algorithm to fulfill ads.
Source: Mashable
