Plumble Ad Sponsored "Free" Calls

Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating

Plumble Ad Sponsored "Free" Calls

plumble-logo.jpgYou remember Pudding Media, right? They offered ad sponsored phone calls in exchange for "listening" in on your phone conversations so it could target audio ads. Pudding Media essentially leverages keyword wordspotting using speech recognition. Well, today, I learned about Plumble from Telecom Monthly. The article seems giddy with what it thinks is some new revelation...
Once in a blue moon, a new product comes along with an idea so obvious that you just want to slap your forehead that you didn't think of it first. For a couple of years, companies like Jajah and Skype have been offering "Free" phone service. But both still collect your credit card number and charge you for calls that you make off their networks. So they aren't really "Free," although they can come close if you call mostly other Jajah or Skype users.

Plumble, The Free Phone Service

A new beta service called Plumble offers actual free phone calls without collecting your credit card number or even your name.
Well, Pudding Media offers free ad-sponsored calls, so this is nothing new. Of course, I didn't care for Pudding Media's eavesdropping ad model. Plumble is limited to U.S. and Canadian calling, which isn't that expensive anyway. Where's the international free calling? Heck Jajah has been offering free international calling since 2006. Further, Plumble requires that you dial 818-742-0110. Um, that's not toll-free - that's a California area code. So I have to pay to dial long-distance to make a "free" phone call? Not to mention it is currently limited to 5 minute phone calls. Thus, this is only useful for short calls anyway and only for people where 818 is a local call.

Thanks, but no thanks.

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