We already deal with advertising coming out of our TV’s and radios, but it looks like Google wants to put it in our thermostats as well. According to a letter that Google sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission, they are planning to put ads “on refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats, glasses, and watches, to name just a few possibilities.” It would certainly explain Google’s recent acquisition of thermostat maker Nest, which is purchased for $3.2 billion. Based on seasons and your geographic location, ads might suggest the purchase of a new wool sweater or an extra bottle of sunscreen.
Google calls this new marketing idea as “enhanced campaigns.” Google described it as allowing their advertisers “to write one ad campaign, which we serve dynamically to the right user at the right time on whatever device makes the most sense.” Their bet is that user interfaces will become ingrained into everything we use, not just computers and cellphones, and if there’s a screen then Google says there’s a place to advertise.
Tony Fadell, the founder of Nest, is adamant that this new form of advertising will not be making its way to its thermostats, and has already clarified with the S.E.C. on the matter. But seeing how Google now owns his former company, Fadell may have very little say in the matter. We tend to agree with tony though. While it is great that we may one day have a thermostat that will change its temperature automatically based on an intuitive process or have a car that is able to drive us to work on its own, we are not so keen on the idea of trying to be sold something every step of the way. Google sees this type of advertising as a potential new source of huge revenue though, and the ads are going to be there whether we like it or not. If google could use our brain as an advertising space, they certainly would.
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