Google and Visa Combine for Mobile Marketing Future

This has the potential to change the advertising model in the U.S.

- Tim Attinger, head of product innovation and development at Visa

In Beth Snyder Bulik, "Visa Teams With Google for Mobile Play Using Android," Advertising Age, September 25, 2008

Google's new mobile operating system, Android, allows users to use their handsets as credit cards. In connection to this ability, Visa will introduce a system to that provides users who opt in with offers directly to their phones. If the user clicks on the phone offer (which might be customized for the individual), Google Maps will tell the customer where the nearest retailer offering the deal is located. Some of the offers may be frequent-shopper, and when the customer pays using the phone, Visa will keep track and tell the person when a certain number of purchases from the merchant will yield the reward.

Visa is rolling out its system slowly. They are just now trying to sign up merchants. Moreover, at this point, it works only on the Android G1 phone that T-Mobile will release. That means relatively few people will be able to try it. Over time, though, Visa executives see advertisers as having the ability to track their performance from the message sent to an individual consumerto the actual purchase via the handset. That, they believe, will change marketers' understanding of how to judge advertising's success.