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Comment by knome | Hacker News Reader

Automated cabs would be a great place to advertise for nearby businesses and things. "Google, what restaurants are nearby?" which gives a list sorted by relevance ( X of Y users returned to restaurant Z more than twice ), with a few purchased restaurant advertisements proceeding them

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Unfortunately, as per the article, the response would most likely be:

"sponsored suggestion to “Buy a restaurants are nearby at Wal-Mart.”"

You know, after using Google Now on my phone, I'm confident that Google can deliver context-sensitive results that make sense. Not always, not for everything, but I bet they could pull it off in a cab just fine.

EDIT: I guess it's worth pointing out, however, that Google Now doesn't show ads.

> EDIT: I guess it's worth pointing out, however, that Google Now doesn't show ads.

Not yet.

Google Now shows unsolicited restaurant recommendations. They might not be paid (I don't know), but they are certainly ads.

That's a very loose definition of ads. Advertising typically implies that it's the restaurant promoting itself.

I think being paid is pretty integral to the concept of an ad.

This is a reply to those below you, because I can't reply to them specifically.

Word of mouth is considered the best form of advertising you can get. Almost 100% of the time it's not even paid for.

Well, don't forget, they bought Zagat. So even if it doesn't look like an ad, 'recommendations' are probably just another form.

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