Mobile-marketing Firm to Release Apple Watch Ad-Buying Service

Advertisers see a lot of potential in Apple’s highly anticipated Watch: We don’t even have an exact launch date, but a mobile marketing firm is already releasing an Apple Watch ad-buying service, reports Reuters.

This week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Last Vegas, TapSense will be busy presenting to businesses the opportunities the Apple Watch is opening up. Advertisers particularly love the feature Apple calls “force push” – the user activates it by tapping the screen with extra pressure – which opens up a menu with up to four actions. One of them could be listing coupons that could give directions to the store.

However, advertisers have their share of challenges: Too many ads will turn the owners smartwatch into a spam box, so he or she will take it off, so they must find the right amount to keep the user engaged.

“If it feels like your smartwatch is turning into a spam box, you will take it off,” said Padden Guy Murphy, who heads business development and public policy at car-sharing service Getaround.

Since WatchKit went live, TapSense has been busy exploring the Apple Watch’s location-based features. Although Apple decided not to include global positioning in the Watch, the user’s location can be tracked through the connected iPhone.

By using location tracking and other features such as easy access (the user only needs to raise its wrist for a better look), the watch could overcome the challenges that prevented location-based ads succeeding on mobile phones, say ad executives. But they still need the user to opt in to these ads, so essentially nothing changes.