We all knew it was comming didn’t we?

You go to the mall and your cell phone starts beeping at you, offering you coupons and deals for the store you just passed, trying to entice you in to spend your money. 

Well, the Hard Rock Cafe in San Francisco has spearheaded the attempt.  Using Intera’s Bluetooth Proximity Marketing they send coupons to blue-tooth capable devices within a 100 foot range.  Of course, the advertisers think this is a great idea since blue-tooth is a free way to transfer data, not limited by carriers.

The down side?  Well, it will be sent unsolicited, and most people will consider it spam.  Mobile advertising is on the rise, but I really don’t think this is the way to go.  Blindly sending out advertisements via Blue-tooth will likely scare customers away from the technology.

You can, however, prevent advertisments by keeping your bluetooth on but in “hidden” or “undiscoverable” mode.  This will allow only authorized devices to connect such as your bluetooth headset.