After my morning run today, I noticed that my Droid X running app actually stuck an ad in the Facebook update it offered to do. That’s a bad boo boo in my book!
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Advertising is what makes the world go round. It really does. For some reason, it works and when it works, everyone seems to win.
TV ads, the most annoying ads of all with their LOUD VOLUME, even work. (That’s why advertisers dropped $10 billion on ad-time with the basic networks for just the 2011/12 TV season alone.)
Ads on buses, bus benches, car wraps and in online website like my own work. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t exist and we would be paying so very much more for our TV, movies and what not.
For me, some of the most insidious kinds of ads, aside from the TV ads that advertisers say aren’t louder, (LOL), are pop-up ads from websites, desktop advertising and now, ads in my Facebook updates.
Yes, I “had” AdAware but then it started sticking ads on my desktop, when I wasn’t online… I smite that crap immediately.
But here’s a new one… I use CardioTrainer on my Motorola Droid X phone. It’s semi-awesome. Sure, my phone’s GPS is a wee bit inaccurate, so it’s not the end-all to GPS tracking, like a wrist-worn Garmin could be. But for generic purposes, like say, when your wife steals your Garmin, it’s all you have.
My last test of my phone, after a 14.1 mile outing, it only recorded it as a 13.56 mile excursion. Admittedly, I expected more from my phone, but I’m not totally surprised.
But alas, here was my experience today with my Droid X, CardioTrainer, and it posting my time to Facebook:
First, it took almost 10 minutes after turning on the GPS function, for my phone to find out where it was.
Then I charged out for a run, using CardioTrainer.
At the end of a run, you can have it update your Facebook account with your time and distance and other details, if you want.
I’ve used it before, so I thought, sure! Now my runner friends can see that I’m trying to get back on track. (Long story).
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Why Is There An Ad/Link in My Update?
But later when I checked my FB updates, I noticed that my update did indeed work, but at the bottom of my update, is an ad for a weight loss app for the Android. It’s a product from the same developer that put together CardioTrainer, WorkSmart Labs Inc..
Like I’ve noted, ads make the world go round. My ads here on Brusimm.com help my bottom line. I try to keep them as un-insidious as possible and believe it or not, makes me very appreciative. But when an app offers an option to send an update to Facebook for you, I don’t believe that’s the place or time for an ad to be shoved in my friends and family’s faces. In other words, you’ve crossed the line with me.
That’s because I’m OK with ads that people choose to see and visit. But when you stick an ad in my circle of friends faces, well, I actually don’t post my own website links to my FB Friends just to avoid exposing them to such. So my line was crossed.
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You’ve Crossed The Line When You Advertise to My Family
It reeks of insidious, when a developer like WorkSmart Labs thinks that they should stick ads in my personal updates to my Facebook account. Basically, you’re using me to advertise to my family.
CardioTrainer is not a bad app at all. It has a ton of great features. It tracks your time, distance, estimated calories burned, it overlays your route on a Google Earth map and other such things. But it’s accuracy is limited by my phone’s ability to not access GPS as accurately as possible. According to my latest run map, I ran straight through some houses! No wonder I hurt!
Obviously, because it wants to add ads to my Facebook updates, I will never use the app again to update Facebook. Now I have to ponder ripping it out of my system, much like I did AdAware. Or keep it around and limit it to what it can do.
It’s a well rated app out there and that sways me to keep it… but obviously, I need to keep it under control.
But that’s today’s consumer rant from Consumer Bits on Brusimm!
