Is junk mail coming to your car?
By: drivers.com staff
Date: 2001-11-17
With two million subscribers now signed up for General Motor's OnStar telematics service, the future looks bright for onboard wireless information systems. Route guidance and summoning help in case of emergency are the core services drivers most want, but it looks like a golden opportunity for marketers to reach a population that is prime for receiving messages of almost any kind, and the temptation to deluge the driver with messages will be strong.
OnStar are starting to offer some of the web's most useful services such as driving directions, traffic information, stock quotes and weather. However, while some of the companies behind these services are promising they won't deluge drivers with junk email and those annoying pop-up ads, there's no doubt that advertising is on the way.
Most likely these will be targeted ads, such as directions to local businesses you may want as you drive, and the "gas station locator" planned by Wingcast, a joint venture of Ford Motor and Qualcomm. Wingcast plans to offer the gas station locator feature soon after its service is introduced in mid-2002.
Even though these services are useful and will likely be "opt-in" by the driver's choice, there are privacy concerns and concerns about driver distraction. Read the NY Times article
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