Consumers scanning the virtual landscape of Google's Street View service might soon encounter some oddly up-to-date billboard advertising. That's right, the company is working on a "code bot" that
will automatically recognize physical adverts in Street View imagery, and then plans to implement a system to re-sell the same ad space digitally.
The technology is detailed in a
newly-granted Google patent, but Fast Company says it wouldn't be surprised to see a product release shortly, because the application has been in place for 18 months. Like many a Google initiative,
recasting the virtual landscape to sell advertising raises some serious questions. "For example," writes Fast Company, "It's all very well to re-sell advertising space on, say, a billboard ... but the
technology also works on adverts like theater marquees or posters in shop windows, and Google seems to be planning an auction system for 'unclaimed' digital ad placements - -potentially leaving the
spots free for rival services to advertise their wares on a competitor's business."
Read the whole story at Fast Company »