Adobe Pushes Toward a Future of Digital Ads in Cars

Adobe Pushes Toward a Future of Digital Ads in Cars
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Adobe has helped companies tackle digital marketing on computers and smartphones, and now, according to Bloomberg, it wants the next key device: your car.

New services will help businesses analyze data from web-enabled autos thrust Adobe into competition with big rivals such as Google, which provides software inside vehicles. Adobe will provide analytics, marketing features and help automate audio ads, enhanced by the company’s artificial intelligence feature called Sensei.

The move puts Adobe on the forefront of efforts to harvest the trove of information being generated by new on-board voice capabilities, infotainment applications and, eventually, self-driving autos. That kind of analysis is just getting under way with cars, as manufacturers enable autos to collect real-time data with networking that makes their vehicles more like a mobile phone.

Adobe is trying to reach beyond traditional gadgets with its marketing-services arm. After spending about $500 million on a video advertising startup, TubeMogul, the company announced analytics for Amazon’s Alexa voice-activated assistant and similar services. Cars are the next big step and a fierce battleground.

"Just think about the amount of time people spend in their cars," said Amit Ahuja, vice president of emerging businesses in the Adobe Experience Cloud. "This is spot-on huge." Carmakers have been slow to adopt more fully connected vehicles, partly because the costs are significant. Automakers are under pressure to show how it will make them money or help them sell more cars, he said. In addition, smartphones already can handle many digital services for drivers and passengers in a car.

There are other challenges, including privacy concerns, and how much data consumers are willing to  give  up, analysts say. At the same time, they may not embrace the new marketing and advertising messages inside their vehicles. Adobe said privacy is a key issue, adding that “consumer trust and transparency serve as guiding principles in developing new products and offering new services.“

The company, which counts the largest carmakers in the world among its existing customers, is targeting the broader automobile industry and the developers who make applications designed for the vehicle. With the new analytics service, companies can capture behavior signals in the vehicle, such as song selections or voice  interactions with the infotainment systems. This could then help better personalize what driver or passenger sees or hears in their vehicles.

Another feature could let a corporation send news or music content to the in-car screen. In addition, Adobe will help place audio ads for digital radio and streaming music applications. After the ad is played, marketers can target users again across a variety of platforms, such as video or search. Adobe is working with the Automotive Grade Linux Project, an effort that competes with Google and others, and is being used by Toyota for helping run connected cars.

While there are possibilities today, it will take fully driverless systems before the car truly becomes a digital device. If a driver is doing little more than sitting in a seat with time and  attention to  burn, more full-fledged entertainment, productivity features and other services will be in demand.