Marketers in France are planning to beam location-specific ads to your phone via Bluetooth, the common short-range wireless transfer technology that’s now included in nearly every new cellphone, reports Reuters. Currently under consideration is just what sort of ad would be compelling enough to tempt consumers to opt in on such messages, since there’s no way advertisers can force you to accept Bluetooth communications.

The funny side to the story is that mobile phone operators like France’s Orange Mobile don’t like the idea, because it’s a free one-to-one relationship with the consumer and therefore doesn’t provide the phone operator a revenue opportunity. Or, to put it in hilarious corporatese,

“Bluetooth does not answer all our needs for mobile marketing,” Jean-Noel Tronc, head of Orange Mobile in France, told Reuters in an interview.

Mobile operators are instead pushing quick response codes, which are those square, funny-looking barcode symbols that some phones can read and convert to urls, phone numbers, or short messages—in other words, something the consumer will have to use an operator’s services to follow up on.

On a related note, if you’re going to Paris in future, 20 of the city’s popular self-hire bike stations now beam free maps and guides to your phone via Bluetooth.

Get ready for ads on your cell phone” [Reuters]
(Photo: Foraggio)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.