The Boost brand tends to attract budget-minded customers. Boost's are prepay cellular plans that don't require a contract.
Starbucks, Levi’s and Lyft are among the participating advertisers, and Unlockd has also teamed up with Yahoo and with Twitter-owned ad server MoPub.
The Boost Dealz ads will be personalized based on your interests and your location, so if you’re near a Starbucks say or it is early in the morning you may get an offer for discounted coffee. You can instantly dismiss an ad by clicking on an X, or opt out of the Boost Dealz plan altogether. There is no requirement to click on any of the ads. Customers who do click in can accept a discounted offer or get more information on a product.
You can check out a promotional Unlockd video
Unlockd actually launched in Australia in beta last October, where CEO Matt Berriman says the click-through rate on ads is more than 4%, a very high number.
The pitch for advertisers is they’ll reach customers before the user has to launch an app such as Facebook. Unlockd has received $15 million in funding from various investors, including News Corp's co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch.
No word on when or if a similar Unlockd app will make it beyond Boost to other brands, or for that matter on an iPhone. The company would need Apple's blessing, which Berriman says is “always a challenge.”
Offering ads for discounts isn’t unprecedented in the tech world, of course. One notable example comes from Amazon, which has been selling Kindle eBook readers for several years now that carry a lower price for buyers who agree to view the sponsored screen-savers that Amazon calls "Special Offers.".
For his part, Berriman envisions a time when viewing ads might partially or fully pay for your cellphone hardware.
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