Most sensible people agree that advertising is a necessary revenue generator for some businesses. We use advertising here in order to continue to operate. But I also think most sensible people agree that some advertising has gotten intrusive. Reports from TechCrunch and iMore indicate that ads may be coming to your Android lock screen soon.
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According to iMore, one company is working with wireless carriers and plans to launch “personalized content” on select devices starting as soon as next month. The new lock screen technology was developed by Glance, which is owned by InMobi and is already using the technology in Asian countries.
According to TechCrunch, Glance is backed by Google, and the company declined to speak to them about the plans for lock screen advertising.
Glance, valued at around $2 billion, serves media and current affairs content and casual games on Android handsets’ lockscreens. The service, which has amassed presence on about 400 million smartphones in Asian markets, is building a “premium offering” for the U.S., where individuals have higher propensity to pay for digital services, the source said.
A spokesperson for Glance declined to comment Tuesday. The startup said in February that it planned to expand globally in the coming years.
TechCrunch
Lock screen ads aren’t new; some manufacturers like Infinix and even Apple use them extensively. In Apple’s case, you can quickly shut off all notifications from any app you do not wish to get a notification from. Apple tends to show ads for iCloud Storage, Apple Arcade, App Store specials, and other Apple-related products. I have not seen any Apple ads as I have most all notifications turned off.
It will be interesting to see how Glance implements this technology and whether it will be user-controllable. We do not know which Android devices will get this new lock screen feature, but we will keep our eyes out.
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