Passengers on London buses could soon be receiving push notifications with real-time travel updates and in-app ads thanks to "the UK's largest iBeacon experience".
A collaboration between mobile marketing company Proxama and Transport for London will allow integration of the beacon system into an app in what they catchily call a "utility-led consumer engagement experience".
Beacons are small chips that use Bluetooth to connect to smart devices like phones and tablets to transmit messages or ads, much like a pop-up on a computer. Beacons are already being used in Euston to help blind people navigate around the station, and users shopping on Regent's Street can sign up to an app that pings them deals as they browse stores. And in 2014, beacons were installed in mannequins to digitally track shoppers and serve them relevant information.
The notifications, which will be available to those who download a bus timetable app on Android, will provide users with real-time travel updates, advising them of updates for the route they are travelling on, and "contextual in-app ads", which the team behind the technology say will be "relevant and timely, based on the consumer being on board a bus at the time of viewing". "Brands can capitalise on the consumer's exact physical context and dwell time to deliver ads at the right time and increase click through rates," the creators say.
According to the team, brands using "beacon-triggered enhanced advertising" see increased click-through rates. They also describe it as a "way of increasing active user numbers and establishing new sources of revenue".
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
