Ask HN: How would you monetize icantfindmyphone.com?

Sponsorship. Localized.

You know the person's area code. Make the assumption that they live somewhere near there and sell local ads.

I wouldn't put the advertising in the voice message itself. Most users are just as likely to ignore the call once they get the phone. After the number has been submitted though, the ad can display on the website's thank you page.

"Now that we've helped you, return a kind act and consider one of these fine products from one of our sponsors."

(I'm not the creator of icantfindmyphone.com)

I ask because I have one-off ideas like this pretty often that would be pretty easy to build, but I've never realized a way to monetize them. Running a service like this isn't going to break the bank, but it isn't exactly free either[1].

[1] I'd consider a lot of projects I do pretty much 'free' to run as they run on servers I already use for other services. For a telephony service, well... Twillio isn't free.

Putting humor before fear of getting downvoted, I'm surprised no one suggested "Sell the phone numbers to telemarketers".

I see two main ways to monetize it.

If it's calling you or texting you, you should be able to text an advertisement or leave a voicemail as an advertisement. I'd also consider telling jokes or something that gets people to spread the service and make it viral. Randomly mixing jokes and ads might not be such a bad bet.

The other option is impressions on the website.

Either of these probably won't result in much money, but it should pay for part of the service.

Let advertisers leave a voice message. In most cases, the call will go to voicemail (even if the person finds the phone they'll probably ignore the call).

Brainstorm ideas, not fully baked:

Ads. Yeah, they will be closing the browser as soon as their phone rings, but you will still have them for a bit before then.

Make them watch an ad before they can input their number and make the call.

Charge them to call the phone. Maybe the first time is free, $0.25 thereafter. Or possibily make it so you can call the phone once by manually typing in the number, but if you want to do it again, it requires the number again and a captcha. But for a fee the system will call the phone, wait 1 minute and redial the number automatically--maybe 10 times or until the phone is answered. (I suggest this because I know I have hit "send" on my computer to send my missing phone a text message then sprinted into the living room to hear if it beeps there, send another and sprint into the kitchen and listen, etc...)

Become an affiliate for similar services which charge a monthly fee.

Ads for new phones, contact backup services, etc. (Make the ads easy to find again once they have realized they cannot find their phone and come back to your site.)

Make them agree that you can sell their number to telemarketers. Or to a cell phone company who will cold call them about needing a new phone. Charge $0.50 to opt out.

Um, a reward?

Isn't that the first thing you offer when you lose something?

Monetize by taking a cut of offered rewards.

The easy/lazy way: Adverts.

Advertise on the thankyou page or when the user hits submit. I imagine that your CTR's going to be very low, but you could advertise useful stuff, like phone add-ons (maybe a higher CTR but lower CPC) or new phone contract deals (lower CTR but perhaps higher CPC).

The less lazy way to monetize it would be to make the user accept that you will keep their mobile number on file. You can then aggregate that info geographically and theoretically sell it to carriers, if such information was of value to them. The reason this may be of value is that someone who persistently uses your site in a small space of time has probably lost their phone and doesn't know where it is. The telco can then call them up on an alternative number and sell them a replacement phone.

This is a very niche application. You have to have lost your phone, no one else with their phone is around and you have a computer around. If you are outside, you probably will have an easier time borrowing someone's phone than their computer. Of course, you can visit this website with their phone instead of calling your phone. :)

So the possible situation where this can be useful is when they misplace it in their house as you suggested. Skype, Google Voice (free), etc. will call the phone while providing other services.

I can only imagine ad based revenue working for this, which will be miniscule even if a large customer base develops as the time spent on the site will be less than 10sec.

Upon the user entering his number immediately redirect him to a sponsor's webpage. You don't care if the user stays on your site, and if you deliver him to an advertiser instantly everyone wins.

Combined with the area code you can localize the redirection.

Advertise an app that allows you to find your phone through GPS. Send a message/link "You found it near you this time, but what if you left it somewhere else? Try this cheap app..."

So in other words, a premium version for people who already found your free version useful.

Allow the user to send in App notifications to their iPhone allowing them to popup something on the screen offereing a reward to the finder.

You can give user an option to opt into (by default selected) SMS advertizing with local offers.

banner ads to sell new phones banner ads for services that restore contacts

Some people may still have their landline only to call their cellphone when they misplace it. Encourage these people to cancel their landline and donate a portion of the savings to you, so your service will always be available.

I think the primary problem with monetizing this idea is letting people know it exists.

I would register a twitter account such as cant_find_your_phone etc, search the firehose, and then tweet the user.