HP's Web Connected Printers May Print Out Ads on the User's Dime

From DailyTech: Hewlett Packard's new web-connected ePrint printers are coming this month and should be able to print email, documents, and photos remotely. While the prospect of a webOS driven printer alone is somewhat exciting, it was a bit hard to figure out just why HP was so enthusiastic about the new devices.

We might have just received an answer to that question. HP is apparently looking to use the platform partly as an ad delivery service. It has partnered with Yahoo's advertising team to deploy ad-driven content.

In current trials the scheme works like this -- a customer can remotely print certain "ad-free" content, such as personal emails. However, they can also sign up for reoccurring content like newspaper and magazine articles. That content would print along with a set of ads.

Users participating in the scheme would, of course, have to pay the cost of ink to print those ads. HP claims that people are very excited about the idea. Stephen Nigro, senior vice president in HP's Imaging and Printing Group states, "What we discovered is that people were not bothered by it [an advertisement]. Part of it I think our belief is you're used to it. You're used to seeing things with ads."

HP's staff acknowledges that there's a need to respect the customer. Nigro also points out that the printers have a unique IP address and states, "Through IP (Internet Protocol) sniffing, you have an idea about where those printers are so naturally it allows you to kind of already target your offers."

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