Think WiFi's free hotspot business flourishing even after Google Station pulls out

[Jan]

South African free uncapped Wi-Fi company marches on — despite losing Google

Free public Wi-Fi hotspot company Think WiFi has continued to grow its coverage footprint in South Africa, despite losing Google as a partner more than two years ago.

The search giant shut down its free Wi-Fi programme Google Station in February 2020 and transferred its operations to ISP Think WiFi.

 

[Solitude]

That's very cool. It's a shame that Google isn't involved anymore.

 

[r00igev@@r]

That's very cool. It's a shame that Google isn't involved anymore.

Didn't want to sacrifice its shares to a BEEE partner for boggerol.

 

[Mr Justice]

The problem is the people relying on the free internet can't afford what the advertisers are selling so hopefully they are on CPA and not CPC / RevShare...

 

[Budza]

Didn't want to sacrifice its shares to a BEEE partner for boggerol.

Was there an article around why they pulled out?

 

[Budza]

Was there an article around why they pulled out?

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While Google didn't given an exact reason for its decision, it said that it had to re-evaluate its plans due to "recomplex and varying technical requirements across countries and partners".

“We'll work with Think Wifi on a plan to transition the service to them, and continue to support them until the end of 2020. We remain committed to looking for ways to make the internet more accessible to users around the world.”

 

[Budza]

The problem is the people relying on the free internet can't afford what the advertisers are selling so hopefully they are on CPA and not CPC / RevShare...

Sounds about right:

Free WiFi to stay in Cape Town, despite Google Station exit

Search engine giant Google pulls the plug on its global free public WiFi initiative, planning to wind down operations through 2020.

www.itweb.co.za

“We've seen it many times over in South Africa, when advertisers have not been willing to support what they see as low-grade traffic that typically accrues to such services,” he states.