Push notifications have been spoken about and hyped to an unbelievable degree. Comments like "It is impossible to overstate the importance of being able to tap 2billion people on the shoulder", and "Push notifications are going to lead to the greatest advance in marketing of our time, with the only ads you ever see being products you want now, at this location".
This is why these people are wrong:
Potential for only moderate upside:
A push notification that is useful can be seen as a minor positive by the consumer. "Oh, I didn't know I needed this and now I have this great product" is the biggest possible upside. Maybe they will love the product, but it is unlikely the notification gets the credit, as opposed to the product. Products can be loved, but as of yet, an unsolicited ad never has been.
Potential for massive downside:
One player can spoil the party for every push notifying company. I will never again allow push notifications from any application, due to an experience that I suspect is common. I allowed push notifications from the NY times when I first downloaded it, and thought nothing of it. I remember the exact moment when my phone beeped, I looked down, and read the score of the deciding game of the MBA finals, which I had DVRd and planned to watch that night. I will never again allow push notifications.
The amount of people who suffer similar problems, including obnoxious repetitve pushes, irrelevant ads, or misleading messages is huge, and the problem is that one app misbehaving spoils the party for all the companies who behave well - the response is often to blame push notifications, not the individual app. As it is impossible to make 100% of people behave well, I believe there will always be some bad marketers abusing push notifications, and it will never be allowed to totally fulfil its massive potential.
This is why these people are wrong:
Potential for only moderate upside:
A push notification that is useful can be seen as a minor positive by the consumer. "Oh, I didn't know I needed this and now I have this great product" is the biggest possible upside. Maybe they will love the product, but it is unlikely the notification gets the credit, as opposed to the product. Products can be loved, but as of yet, an unsolicited ad never has been.
Potential for massive downside:
One player can spoil the party for every push notifying company. I will never again allow push notifications from any application, due to an experience that I suspect is common. I allowed push notifications from the NY times when I first downloaded it, and thought nothing of it. I remember the exact moment when my phone beeped, I looked down, and read the score of the deciding game of the MBA finals, which I had DVRd and planned to watch that night. I will never again allow push notifications.
The amount of people who suffer similar problems, including obnoxious repetitve pushes, irrelevant ads, or misleading messages is huge, and the problem is that one app misbehaving spoils the party for all the companies who behave well - the response is often to blame push notifications, not the individual app. As it is impossible to make 100% of people behave well, I believe there will always be some bad marketers abusing push notifications, and it will never be allowed to totally fulfil its massive potential.
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