No Advertising on Google Glass

Google Glass, which has no official release date to the public, could possibly be the most incredible piece of technology that will change the way we humans interact with each other. In an interview with Project Glass leader Babak Parviz, Parviz said that “at the moment, there are no plans for advertising on this device”. This is a very interesting development since advertising is a sure fire way for Google to make a small fortune off of Google Glass, not to mention that currently 95% of their revenue is from advertising. Also Google said the apps for Google Glass, or Glassware as they call it, at this point are also going to be released as free. While this seems like a bad idea for Google, fiscally this is a very customer friendly part of Google Glass.

            There are many reasons why Google should advertise on Glass. First and foremost, Google Glass is an entirely new platform that is destined to attract many new customers. This is instant exposure to many groups of people and there is no avoiding the ads. This could be similar to the way Apple and Android advertise on a smart phone. As a customer, we have grown to deal with the advertisements as a part of the phone and we tend to work around them. However, Google Glass is a completely different animal. Google Glass is at eye level, literally in your face. People may find ads on Google Glass to be invasive and cluttering. It could also take away from the whole experience of Google Glass. We’re not exactly sure how much of your sight line Glass will take up, but people only have so much vision space, and filling it up with advertisements is definitely not consumer friendly. Personally, I do not find ads on my iPhone all that annoying, but more just something that has to be contended with when you purchase free apps. As a person using an iPhone, you have a choice whether or not you want to click on the ad and investigate further, or just skip and move on to the next screen.. As long as they are not very frequent, quick, and do not take up too much of my vision, I do not have a problem with them. Advertisements are part of the world that we live in today.

            At this point, since Google is not allowing advertising on Glass, there could be even more opportunity for more branded apps for Google Glass. This would be a great way for brands and companies to get their name and make their mark on Google Glass. If companies can produce apps that are beneficial to consumers, and are non-invasive, it could be a great way for companies to gain positive exposure and engage with customers. One example of this is coming from the New Orleans Tourism Corp. Mark Romig, the company’s CEO, says that they are developing an app that will allow for potential visitors to “walk the streets, see architecture, taste the food, and hear the music”.

            Google has already distributed numerous pairs of the Google Glass to many CEO’s and developers so they can get a head start in producing apps for Glassware. A couple interesting ideas have already been developed. Two very intriguing apps have been developed by Mike DiGiovanni, one of the tech leaders for Roundarch Isobar. Since Google Glass does not lock like an iPhone or Android does, he saw a major security risk with this. As a result he created an app called Bulletproof that acts as a lock for your Google Glass set. He also developed an app called Winky that allows people to take pictures with Google Glass just by simply winking. This is quite revolutionary and there are reports that major social media platforms such as Facebook have already begun developing apps as well.

            For Google Glass there are still issues that they have to contend with. Apparently, a couple of the outside developers have successfully hacked or jailbreaked Google Glass. While Google has time to fix issues like this, they also still have time to decide if they really want to put advertisements on Google Glass. Would you care if there were advertisements on Google Glass? If there were advertisements on Google Glass, would it steer away from purchasing Google Glass?