Comments on: What do you think about a GoogleBerry?

By: Thought

Thought — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 01:26:01 +0000

Stu: ESPN did do this as well, but it failed miserably (even though I thought the phones were kinda cool).

Google will have to come out with some fantastic software on the phone in order for this venture to work.

By: Robb Dunewood

Robb Dunewood — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 22:47:28 +0000

I’ve actually heard somewhere, sorry I cannot remember where, that a company was toying around with the idea of scanning incoming SMS messages and offering contextual ads based on their contents.

As I think about it, Google is already doing this with Gmail and google talk. I am sure that they have this in the back of their minds somewhere.

By: Stu

Stu — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:37:56 +0000

I think google would be smart enough to develop the phone so that it is not overly annoying with advertising. I think that the ad angle would be less ‘phone’ based on more on using the smartphone capabilities, i.e. internet, calender, task, etc. It’s an ambitious project, but if ESPN can come out with a branded phone, I’m sure Google could as well.

By: Robb Dunewood

Robb Dunewood — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:55:59 +0000

I am with TK and Thought on this one. The idea almost reminds me of when People PC first hit the scene with a free computer if you ran their ad bar.

Even though people signed up for it, it became so annoying that advertisors started to realize a negative preference of their products and services being advertised.

By: Thought

Thought — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:46:42 +0000

The ad angle is interesting, but I personally would never settle for that. No one is getting ads onto my phone…I’ll gladly pay more to avoid that.

Also, carriers already offer subsidized pricing on phones, and many phones are offered for free…why would a consumer want to have to suffer through ads on a mobile device?

That being said, if Google comes out with something, then one can expect it be interesting and innovative. It would have to offer more than just the same Google software, like Google maps, that you can download yourself onto any phone. Simply preloading the software doesn’t add that much value.

By: TK

TK — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:31:42 +0000

I don’t know that this would fly in the US. I can’t imagine having to watch a commercial everytime I wanted to make a call.

By: Sanjay

Sanjay — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 07:53:25 +0000

Do you think that a phone from Google could be free and supported by advertising? Maybe before you are able to make a call, you would have to watch a 10 or 15 second commercial or something.