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AT&T Enabling Text Ads To LA-Area Phones

NEW YORK (AP) — In a first for a wireless carrier, AT&T says it will enable its phones' location-sensing ability to target text ads with coupons and other offers to participating subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.

Kmart, part of Sears Holdings Corp., is one of the chains that has signed up for "ShopAlerts by AT&T." That means AT&T could send discount offers to subscribers who are close to a Kmart store.

Other participants are Hewlett-Packard Co., SC Johnson, Kibbles 'n Bits, Nature's Recipe and the "Got Milk?" campaign.

AT&T is only able to locate its subscribers to within a mile or so, so its ability to sense that subscribers are in a receptive state, like when they're heading to shop, is limited.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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