HP To Incorporate Ads Into Web-Connected Printers

By Peter Lavelle
17 June 2010 10:55 GMT

Ink cartridge manufacturer Hewlett Packard has joined forces with Yahoo to deliver targeted advertising for the corporation's new line of web-connected printers. HP unveiled the new printers last week: they enable users to download web pages without connecting to a computer, and print images sent from a mobile device using printer-specific email addresses. Yesterday though, HP revealed it planned to couple downloaded content with targeted ads. In theory the advertising will work as follows:

• People who connect to the net using HP's new printers reveal their location, because all web-connected machines have IP addresses. Companies can use this information to send location-specific adverts.
• People who use HP's new printers can also be tracked according to their behaviour and download habits. This enables companies to further individualise advertising for each user.
  

HP's Senior Vice President of Imaging and Printing Stephen Nigro said that in pilot shemes “people were not bothered” by the advertising. He said “Part of it I think our belief is you're used to it. You're used to seeing things with ads.” This suggests HP's decision to incorporate targeted ads is not motivated by a desire to improve the user experience. Instead the company is including advertising because people do not significantly object and it increases revenues.

President of HP's Printing and Imaging Group Vyomesh Joshi noted however that HP would be careful not to misuse consumer data when targeting ads. He said: "That's where we need to be very clear business rules in terms of privacy.”

Sources

Anonymous, 'HP Teams Up With Yahoo, Brings Targeted Ads To Printers,' UberGizmo.com, 17 June 2010.
Jeremy Kirk, 'HP Partners With Yahoo For Targeted Advertising,' PCWorld.com, 16 June 2010.