There are few places left in this world safe from advertising. Your apps have em, your train is plastered with them (inside and out), even your premium video subscription service pelts you with sales pitches. So, why should getting from one place to another be any different? Motorola (and, we suppose by extension, Google) doesn't see any reason it shouldn't feed you ads while you're navigating about, using your phone's turn-by-turn directions app. Of course, all these ads would be tailored specifically to your tastes and locale. Obviously, there might be something to the idea of popping up small and unobtrusive alerts for nearby businesses -- maybe even ones you didn't known existed. But, when you're trying to navigate a busy roundabout or a confusing set of on-ramps (we're looking at you, New Jersey), perhaps it's best not to crowd your vision with popups for Mabel's MuumuuMart.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Software, Mobile

Motorola trying to patent smart ads in navigation apps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.