We’ve seen a lot of Wi-Fi promotions the past couple of weeks, and most of them are sponsored. And that seems to make sense, especially for Aircell/Gogo, because that means some kind of guaranteed revenue. Plus, I’m sure the hope is that users that take advantage of free Wi-Fi will pay in the future.
But it also means good exposure for the company doing the advertising – the usage rates for free Wi-Fi are higher than when there’s a cost, and plus users have to see the company’s advertising then they log in.
So, Delta, which recently offered Wi-Fi on October 31, is offering it again for a week starting November 24th. The promotion is sponsored by eBay. As you can see, users will see some eBay advertisements when they log in:
But, in addition, users will immediately be forwarded to eBay once they log in. Nice way to take advantage of a captive audience, for sure. This is a smart move for Gogo and eBay, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more promotions like this one in the future with other companies.
To take advantage of the free Wi-Fi (starting November 24th), just enter the promo code EBAYWIFI.
It may help encourage people to pay in the future. But considering how new the service is I wouldn’t be surprised they’re still feeling things out and trying to decide if they could get more money by people paying or from advertisers.