A few third-party apps have been going after this market for a while now, but AT&T has just become the first American carrier to throw its weight behind location-based ads in teaming up with Placecast to launch the so-called AT&T ShopAlerts service in four markets. Residents of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco will be the first to experience the mind-bending future of advertising — presumably because they’re densely-populated enough to make a location-based trial worthwhile — with seven inaugural partners: HP, Kmart, JetBlue, SC Johnson, Kibbles ‘n Bits (‘n Bits ‘n Bits), Nature’s Recipe, and the “got milk?” people. Fortunately, the system is opt-in, not out. Follow the break for AT&T’s full press release. Continue reading AT&T ShopAlerts: first location-based ads from a US carrier kick off in four markets AT&T ShopAlerts: first location-based ads from a US carrier kick off in four markets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink