zAds

The Zune, once again, has touched off a storm of controversy with the mere discussion of having advertising on their media player.  If I'm like most users, the reason I don't listen to the radio anymore is because I can't stand the ads that dominate the music.  Even with six stations programmed into my car radio, in a major US radio market, there are times aplenty that I can't find anything to listen to.  Also, unlike others, I never use the FM radio on my Zune.

However, the personal media player may be fertile ground to display ads.  Here's what one website is saying:

Microsoft recently announced that it was planning to launch a Zune Social advertising pilot program this summer. The program will try to expand Zune Social profiles to include pages for artists, events, and advertising. When this news started to trickle down into the blogosphere a few days ago, many Zune and non-Zune users voiced their disapproval. Some of the reactions would make you think that advertising on a digital media player was in fact mass murder in disguise. For those willing to listen, it's time to clarify what exactly Microsoft hopes to achieve.

Reportedly, the advertising will be completely optional.  It's also designed to be integrated into the content.  While I have no desire to have more ads, if they aren't intrusive, and they subsidized some content, I'd definitely be willing to take a look, er, I mean listen.