SlingLabs threatens to clutter up your HTC EVO with notification bar ads
Advertising in Android apps might be taking a turn for the worse with SlingLabs' new SDK that allows developers to start putting ads into your HTC EVO's notification bar area.
It is no secret that advertising has been a big source of revenue for developers in the Android Market that sometimes keeps apps from actually charging money. Developers release apps for free and sell advertising in the form of banner ads, full screen ads between levels, video clips, and even other incentive methods that, for example, push the user into downloading other new apps to unlock in-game features.
SlingLabs felt that these methods must not be intrusive enough, as they have come up with a new SDK method that will allow devs to put an advertisement into your notification bar area. Developers will be able to not only bombard you with ads throughout your app experience but also when you go to your notification area and try to multitask. The company claims that developers could experience upwards of 40% rates of users clicking through those ads, but for some reason I feel that figure is a little high.
Now credit does need to be given to SlingLabs for inventing a creative way to target people into viewing and clicking on ads, but at the same time I have to say no thanks. The number of times some ads pop up in existing apps already seems intrusive enough, so to have them seeping into other areas of my phone is something I would like to avoid. Otherwise, where will it all stop?
What is your take on this? The more you speak out in negativity to developers trying to incorporate things such as notification bar ads, the less likely the trend will have a chance to take off. If you see this as a positive in some way, please let the rest of us know how you came to that conclusion.
[SlingLabs via Android and Me]
