In the interest of full disclosure, I am an Apple fan. I really love my iPhone and will give the iPad a chance when the 3G version is released. Part of what I love is that the experience, excepting network issues with AT&T, is always top notch.As I remove my fanboy beanie and put on my marketing hat, I’m starting to feel as though Apple has recently gone too far. Apple has blocked location-based advertising (LBA) in apps and has made the decision for reasons that clearly score high on both the experience-control axis and the profit axis.
As for the experience control, I am mostly on board. I don’t want every retailer trying to sell me their wares based on the fact that I happen to be close. LBA is best when it is not only geographically relevant but also relevant to the app I happen to be using, or some other information I have agreed to share. For example, if I’m using an augmented reality app to find a good sushi restaurant in a new town, and you happen to offer me a dinner special at your sushi restaurant, that’s appreciated. Even if you try to sway my tastes to Italian, I’m game. But if I’m looking for sushi and you try to sell me electronics down the block… not so much.
The rest of the story is that Apple has recently acquired two companies and some talent that makes it clear they intend to get into the game of providing the inventory for LBA on the iPhone. But, when one company controls the software, hardware and advertising inventory I think it’s marketers who lose. Time will tell what path Apple eventually will take, but I hope for the future of both LBA and the iPhone that Apple’s decision keeps LBA on par with other, more-open platforms in terms of cost, quality, and ROI. If not, Apple’s strategy here can cripple an industry that has a potentially bright future.
