Ford patents in-car targeted ads system that eavesdrops on passengers

Volume car makers don’t seem to be able to make money any more from, er, selling cars so we live in the era of “mobiles on wheels,” all delivered through those wretched screens you can’t turn off. Some makers, including BMW, are also keen on selling drivers so-called “subscriptions.” You pay a fee if you want to drive anywhere?

Now, according to PCMag, Ford has secured a US patent for a new in-car advertising system that can serve targeted advertising (as it knows where you’re going) and even listen to passengers’ in-car conversations. Again to serve targeted ads but also, it seems, to gather data on what passengers think. Or, indeed, whatever else they may be up to if the mood takes them.

Ford says: “Submitting patent applications is a normal part of any strong business as the process protects new ideas and helps us build a robust portfolio of intellectual property.

“The ideas described within a patent application should not be viewed as an indication of our business or product plans,” it adds somewhat disingenuously. “No matter what the patent application outlines, we will always put the customer first in the decision-making behind the development and marketing of new products and services.”

Technology really has allowed the direct marketing boffins out of the cave to which we mostly hoped they’d been confined all these years.