Google Gets Patent To Link Restaurant Advertisements To Free Taxi Service
Skift Take
Did Uber's valuation just tick up a billion dollars or so? Google's patent for transportation-aware restaurant ads coupled with free taxi service turns online ads into a concierge service of sorts that will deepen ties between taxi services and restaurants and other businesses.
Google has secured a U.S. patent that could revolutionize the way restaurants and other retail outlets use online advertising. The patent enables these businesses to turn their online ads into a utility that provides prospective customers with free or discounted taxi service to get to the venue.
The patent for "Transportation-Aware Physical Advertising Conversions" shows that Google would parse the advertiser's business location, customer GPS data, target customer profiles and user data, as well as Google Maps, and calculate the cost of transportation and the advertiser's potential profit for providing free or discounted taxi service to the advertiser's business.
"For example, the system may consider various factors including a consumer's current location, the consumer's most likely route and form of transp
