People love ads, right? Well, no, not really. From YouTube to websites to television and apps on your smartphone, ads are an obtrusive menace that many of us try to avoid by paying subscriptions or buying apps and even adblocking services. Despite this, AT&T may begin offering wireless phone plans that are at least partly subsidized by advertising during 2021.
In an interview with Reuters, AT&T's Chief Executive John Stankey said the following:
“I believe there’s a segment of our customer base where given a choice, they would take some load of advertising for a $5 or $10 reduction in their mobile bill,”
The move to a cellphone plan at least partly subsidized by adverts comes as AT&T focuses on its advertising business in its attempts to reduce its debt load. 2021 will see the launch of an ad-supported version of HBO Max that will serve as the springboard for offering new phone plans that are also supported by advertising.
AT&T's engineers are said to be creating “unified customer identifiers” which would allow marketers to identify users across multiple devices. This, in turn, would result in increased relevance of ads which would allow AT&T to sell at higher rates.
It's a strategy that has been attempted before by Amazon and Boost Mobile without really catching on, partly because the savings offered by the presence of advertising doesn't really make up for the annoyance caused by the ads in the first place. It will be interesting to see how AT&T fares when it introduces the ad-supported plans in the next year or so.
[Poll] Are you going to pick up the LG Wing?
These are all the gaming titles available on Microsoft’s xCloud gaming service
US Customs seizes OnePlus Buds at the border and continues to claim they’re counterfeit AirPods
The level of greed knows no bounds!
No way.
Not a chance in hell.