Voice recognition
software monitors the calls, selects ads based on what it hears and pushes the ads to the subscriber's computer screen. A conversation about movies, for example, will elicit movie reviews and ads for
new films. To give the ads greater accuracy, Pudding Media asks users for their sex, age range, native language and Zip code when they sign up.
Advertisers pay based on how often a user click on their ads, and a spokeswoman said the rates were similar to the cost-per-click prices in Google's AdSense network. Pudding Media plans to add other payment models, like charging for each ad impression or by the number of calls an ad generates to the advertiser. While the calling service currently only works through computers, there is the potential to use it with cellphones.