Brand owners could soon get the chance to target consumers with advertising based on the background noise being emitted during a mobile phone conversation – revealing consumers are on the beach or at the shops.
The move comes after Google was awarded a patent on March 20 for advertising based on “environmental conditions”.
Advertising can be served on the basis of a sensor that detects temperature, humidity, sound, light or air composition near a device, and marketing messages are served accordingly.
This could mean that if the Google technology detects the sound of the seaside, advertisements for holiday goods, such as beachwear, sunglasses and even books, could be served.
The ad could be delivered in the form of text image or video, sent to the users’ device after detecting the environmental conditions. Google plans to connect those conditions with keywords that advertisers can buy.
Google refused to comment on the move. A spokesman said: “We file patent requests for numerous ideas our employees dream up. Product announcements cannot simply be inferred from our patent applications.”
As well as mobiles, the patented technology is designed for personal computers, digital billboards, digital kiosks, and vending machines, opening up a host of applications.
Location-based advertising has been a reality for a few years now, with the likes of O2 claiming to have up to 10 million customers willing to accept offers in this way. And while voice search has also been available for a while, it has only really taken off since Apple introduced Siri, a voice search agent integrated with the iPhone 4S.
