Mapy.cz will remain without a subscription and the necessary consent to target advertising. And they are preparing a premium version

Seznam.cz has reconsidered its opinion on the method of monetization of the Mapy.cz map application. As one of its few services, it has stopped displaying a prompt on it for users to either start paying for a subscription or give the company consent to collect data for targeted advertising. A change on the X social network https://twitter.com/ondrej1974/status/1788545875179925767.

“After evaluating operational experience, user feedback and based on further development plans, we have decided to enable the continued use of the Mapy.cz service for everyone, even without payment and without consent to the use of personal data for targeted advertising,” he confirmed.

The so-called Seznam started testing the “pay or ok” option on its services this spring, and at the end of April, it started displaying the selection window to all users.

A number of people protested against the novelty, then the motivation of the company https://twitter.com/ilblog/status/1784595305737908407. The move was justified by the impending end of third-party cookies, which will make it more difficult to collect behavioral data for advertising targeting. As a result, online businesses are at risk of a drop in revenue, as untargeted advertising is sold at significantly lower prices.

Today, Mapy.cz is the only major Seznam service that has turned off the “pay or ok” option. Apart from that, the invitation is not displayed only on the websites kalendar.seznam.cz, ucet.seznam.cz, kupi.cz, poinada.seznam.cz and login.szn.cz (if the user comes to them from a direct link), she confirmed to Lupa’s questions Seznam spokesperson Aneta Kapuciánová.

According to Procházka, instead of monetizing by subscription or targeted advertising, Mapy.cz is preparing a premium version of the service in the future. “Mapy.cz Premium will be focused on more advanced functions, and when they are launched we will give maximum advantage to those users who, as authors of photos, reviews or other content, actively contribute to the value of the service,” he described.

It follows from the context that it should probably be a paid service. However, Seznam.cz refuses to confirm this and does not want to reveal any other details, saying that they are not even clear internally. “We are currently working intensively on the preparation of the exact proposal for the premium version of Mapy.cz,” Lupě Kapuciánová wrote.