Ryan,
Thank you for understanding and making the appropriate adjustments.
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I donāt want to see them at all, but I would be much less irritated if it was an email. Seeing them in the app is unacceptable IMHO.
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I donāt want to see them at all, but I would be much less irritated if it was an email. Seeing them in the app is unacceptable IMHO.
I agree. Perhaps a monthly email with new features that has the option to āopt outā. There is already a discovery tab in the app for new features to be announced.
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Iāve never seen an ad in the app or the website, other than what is in the āDiscoverā tab, which you have to consciously click on to see. I suppose these pop up ads arenāt available in my area so Iāve been lucky ?
In my opinion an email is appropriate for new features, but if all isolated to that ādiscoverā tab and never getting in the way of the day to day function, that makes sense to me.
Pop up ads in a paid app that block the function of the app itself, especially where this thing is supposed to be the āsingle pane of glassā where you manage your home is just totally inappropriate. Iām sure youād never see an ad on a Crestron or Control4 touchscreen, as an example. Its just bad form.
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What makes these āadsā as opposed to feature announcements? Itās common to open an app and see an announcement when new features are available to you from that company.
I donāt like being inundated with ads either. But I tend to think of situations like, Iām watching Prime Video (a paid service) and I see ads for other companies because they are selling ad space.
Alarm.com is trying to introduce their own features not selling ads to other companies. The 2 examples discussed here are:
- Smart Coverage: an insurance service that saves you money on insurance because they can verify you have certain devices in your system that reduce the risk of insurance claims. You can opt out yourself to make it go away. Unfortunately they made it so it will come back 30 days later but after the 2nd opt-out it never comes back.
- Thermostat Rewards: energy saving programs that you get rewarded for participating in. You can tell us and we can permanently opt you out of this immediately so you will never see them again.
Iāve tried to explain to Alarm.com why people are complaining about these but Iāve struggled because I have trouble articulating what makes these feel like ads and not normal feature announcements.
I agree the Discover tab is a less intrusive place to do it but, to be fair to Alarm.com, far more people see and then use the features when they announce them on the home page. Very few people look through the Discover tab.
I think there are different types of people. Some value privacy and not being bothered, and do their own searching to find what they want. Others value convenience and donāt find new things unless theyāre put right in front of them. Itās hard to please both types of people at the same time.
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Iāve struggled because I have trouble articulating what makes these feel like ads and not normal feature announcements.
Hi Ryan.
I donāt particularly mind these ads, but they are ads. IMO, the main thing I think of when asking āis this an ad?ā is āwill (ad) conversions directly make the company money?ā.
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For Smart Coverage, they presumably get paid by the insurance companies for Alarm.comās data.
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For Thermostat Rewards they presumably get paid by the utility company to leverage Alarm.comās customer base with connected thermostats.
Itās not just that they are promoting new features, but that their promotions only run for things that make Alarm.com more money. If Alarm.com wants to make them more palatable:
- Control: Make feature announcements a dashboard widget. Subscribers can then choose, on their own, where and if they want to see these ads. For a comparison to another companies product: Appleās OSes have a āTipsā and āSiri Suggestionsā widgets.
- Opt Out: Allow the Primary Login to opt out for all other logins. This is especially important for customers who use the service to monitor an elderly parent or grandparent (a core demographic of Alarm.com Wellness).
- Money: Donāt dedicate prime dashboard space solely to announcing things that make Alarm.com more money. I would not mind if they also included āAdsā for features that are already included in your subscriptions (like smart arming, or event rules, etc), as long as they meet the two conditions above. Yes, this calls for more ads, but at least they arenāt being obnoxious by only doing it for features that cost extra (even if that cost is borne by someone other than the subscriber).
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To clarify, when I say āfeature announcementsā I donāt mean these dashboard cards, as they call them, are just release notes that tell you about changes in the app. I agree theyāre trying to raise awareness of programs that benefit the company financially. I just find that to be normal whereas selling ad space to 3rd parties would be more offensive, IMO.
What you said seems like a reasonable distinction. If the goal of the thing being shown results in revenue somehow then itās an ad. However, I donāt think theyāre going to show anything without the goal being additional revenue. Itās what theyāre supposed to do.
My issue with it is the opt-out behavior. I think everything they show should have an easy and obvious way to opt out permanently. Currently, Smart Coverage makes you opt out twice, once now and once 30 days later. That rubs me the wrong way. I would also like to see a global opt option out for all future offers of any kind.
I like your suggestions. The only part I slightly disagree with is the idea that highlighting things that result in revenue is obnoxious. For people that see the āadā, want to participate, and save money on their home insurance or electric bill as a result, itās a win-win. But I also acknowledge that it distracts and annoys those who arenāt interested and could end up reducing revenue if these people cancel their Alarm.com service.
Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed feedback! Iāll make sure to pass it along.
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