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Because absolutely nobody wants to receive location-based spam? And at some level companies with location-based services understand this, and are therefore relu

Because absolutely nobody wants to receive location-based spam? And at some level companies with location-based services understand this, and are therefore reluctant (consciously or unconsciously) to build a one-click location-based-spam generator? The whole notion of location-based push messaging is inane. It reeks of something invented by a person who has never lived in a city, or thought hard about what a city means. In a city you are constantly surrounded by thousands of things and people in which, frankly, you are not interested. You are interested in your own little gang. A wise person once said that your city consists of a tribe of a few dozen people, living in the same space as a few hundred thousand other tribes. If it weren't for my ability to selectively ignore 99.9% of what is happening within three blocks of here, I'd be insane. On the long, prioritized list of factors that are likely to be predictive of what I want to see blinking on my phone at any given moment, I suspect that my current location is very, very far down.

robryan 16y ago
What about current location and interests settings? It doesn't strike me as to bad being sent deals on things you want combined with location.
callmeed 16y ago
"Because absolutely nobody wants to receive location-based spam?" I'm not sure. Groupon sends people a "deal" for their city every day. Personally, I'd consider it "opt-in spam" and obviously people are eating it up. I agree that an endless stream of text messages or background notifications with $1 off coupons would be stupid. But a single location-based coupon at the bottom of a Twitter client or a one-deal-a-day text message based on your location and preferences might work. "And at some level companies with location-based services understand this, and are therefore reluctant (consciously or unconsciously) to build a one-click location-based-spam generator?" I'm inclined to think it's more about the local business owners. Go to a chamber of commerce meeting or grab 20 random restaurant owners ... what will you find? 40 and 50-somethings who barely understand email and the web, let alone smartphones and location-based social networks.
- anamax 16y ago
  > Go to a chamber of commerce meeting or grab 20 random restaurant owners ... what will you find? 40 and 50-somethings who barely understand email and the web, let alone smartphones and location-based social networks. Please tell us more about your research in this area. They do know how to attract paying customers. They are deluged with new ways to attract customers, the vast majority of which don't work and most of the rest aren't worth what they cost. And the worst of them are more valuable than monday morning quarterbacks. You think that you can do better? Great! Show us.

robryan 16y ago

What about current location and interests settings? It doesn't strike me as to bad being sent deals on things you want combined with location.

callmeed 16y ago

"Because absolutely nobody wants to receive location-based spam?" I'm not sure. Groupon sends people a "deal" for their city every day. Personally, I'd consider it "opt-in spam" and obviously people are eating it up. I agree that an endless stream of text messages or background notifications with $1 off coupons would be stupid. But a single location-based coupon at the bottom of a Twitter client or a one-deal-a-day text message based on your location and preferences might work. "And at some level companies with location-based services understand this, and are therefore reluctant (consciously or unconsciously) to build a one-click location-based-spam generator?" I'm inclined to think it's more about the local business owners. Go to a chamber of commerce meeting or grab 20 random restaurant owners ... what will you find? 40 and 50-somethings who barely understand email and the web, let alone smartphones and location-based social networks.

anamax 16y ago
> Go to a chamber of commerce meeting or grab 20 random restaurant owners ... what will you find? 40 and 50-somethings who barely understand email and the web, let alone smartphones and location-based social networks. Please tell us more about your research in this area. They do know how to attract paying customers. They are deluged with new ways to attract customers, the vast majority of which don't work and most of the rest aren't worth what they cost. And the worst of them are more valuable than monday morning quarterbacks. You think that you can do better? Great! Show us.