Could Google Android come up with ad-funded “free mobile phones”?

Imagine you have a mobile phone

1. that can replace your PC

2. that costs you absolutely nothing, not even connection charges

3. that takes mobile surfing, mobile music, mobile video, and mobile connectivity to a whole new level

Does it sound like a scene from a sci-fi movie? You bet it’s not. I’m talking about the possibility of a Google Android based phone. Surprised? Don’t be. This isn’t some kind of a prediction for the New Year. This is what John Bruggeman, Chief Marketing Officer of Wind River Systems, a leading Linux software provider, has stated in his latest interview in technewsworld.com.

He says, “If I can get a lot of what I get through the PC free or low-cost through one of these mobile devices, the only real difference is the size of the monitor, keyboard and mouse. Isn’t there an opportunity in two, three, or four years that I might say, “I don’t need that PC and all that complexity, cost and so forth. I might just use my mobile device for almost all of the things I do online?“

This metamorphosis is happening right before our eyes now. I mean, gone are the days when mobile phone was meant for communication alone. Take a look around you – Nokia N95, Apple iPhone, Windows Mobile devices, and so many other phones which offer almost everything that a PC offers. Soon there will be a stage where people will prefer their mobile phone to a PC, as the mobile is always with them and they don’t have to go searching for a PC every time they go out somewhere.

He also adds, “There might be revenue that’s derived through connectivity, but increasingly we’re seeing the big money around the monetization of advertising attached to search, advertising attached to specific content, and advertising attached increasingly to mobile location and presence. I don’t think that the extreme is that improbable, that the actual connection price would go down to zero. I could have a mobile phone and pay a $0 monthly fee. The ad revenue is where the real dollars are here, as well as all the location-based value that you can do.”

This is where I see the possibility of mobile advertising turning the mobile phone industry on its head. Earlier, this thought would have been dismissed out as an improbability as there is no way you could have a “free” phone without having someone to bear the charges. Mobile advertisers are ready to bear the charges now and the idea of a “free phone” seems a possibility that can happen sooner than later.

Technically, an ad-funded phone is a win-win proposition for both the advertiser, handset maker/carrier, and the consumer. The advertiser gets what he wants – his product/service reaches his target audience, that too on a one-to-one marketing basis. The handset maker/carrier makes money from the advertiser, so he gets what he wants. And finally, the consumer is more than satisfied with what he gets – no charges for premium services or connectivity, all at the cost of getting ads on his mobile phone.

I personally think this would be the best possible way for mobile industry to go forward. It’s high time the anti-mobile phone advertising group gave it some thought. What do you say?

Categories: Google.

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