Want free data? There’s an app for that

If you like the idea of getting free data for your smart phone, or you’re an advertiser and wish your mobile ads were getting more engagement, you may want to check out Boston based startup Aquto.

Kickbit by AqutoAquto has essentially incentivized mobile advertising by partnering with cellular carriers to provide free data in exchange for a certain amount of engagement with a mobile ad.

How it works is that you download Aquto’s app Kickbit and then using the app you can earn data by watching videos, taking surveys, etc. From inside the app, you then have the option to transfer the data you’ve earned to your mobile carrier. You’ll have to check their list to see if your carrier is supported though-not all carriers support this yet.

Did Aquto figure out the best way to monetize mobile ads? Is free data enough of a hook? It might be. The number of smart phone users continues to grow, and so does the amount of data we’re using on our phones. A VentureBeat article on mobile data usage cites new research by Strategy Analytics, which projects that people will use 300% more data by 2017.

Does free data for your smart phone sound like something you would be interested in?