Shanghai's love-hate relationship with taxi commercials is coming to a head as expats debate whether they're more of an annoyance than a benefit.

The ubiquitous commercials found in nearly every Shanghai taxi may soon come under closer government scrutiny. According to Shanghai Daily, in early January the local government announced stricter regulation of outdoor and mobile advertisements, including digital taxi media. This declaration was echoed by government officials from the World Expo Environment Improvement campaign, who went a step further and hinted at the possible removal of the commercials altogether, in effect making taxi commercials a matter of visual and audio pollution.

In Shanghai, Touchmedia dominates the digital taxi media landscape, working with five of the big six taxi companies in the city. When asked about the possible regulations, their managing director Neil Ducray confidently explains, “We have fully censorship-trained in-house staff, and we're fanatical about vetting our advertisements.”

Vetted or not, a number of taxi riders agree with the notion that digital ads in cabs are visual and audio pollutants. Banker Justin Wang states, “I hate that you can't turn them off. I sit at a computer all day only to have to stare into another screen inches away from my face when I go home. I pay for my taxi ride–why should I be bombarded by advertising?” A user on chinasuccessstories.com confides, “A driver showed me how to move the head rest cover to block the screen. Other drivers have used a spare cover or found a way to switch it off!”

Touch Media CEO Micky Fung replies to such responses, “It's always the smallest crowd that make the biggest noise. An independent study found that 92 percent of the passengers interact with the unit, and more often than not, people enjoy the commercials.” Networking guru Alex Cureton-Griffiths admits, “To be honest, sometimes I want some peace and quiet. But [the ads] can be a fun diversion during a traffic jam."

Journalist Michele Travierso agrees. “If [Touch Media] could get the balance right between public service and commercials and give people an on / off button, people would appreciate it.” He clarifies, “Public service like a good map, maybe integrated [with City Weekend's and Minfo's] Guanxi (1066-9588-2929) service would be great.” Although there are divergent opinions on the topic, what everyone seems to agree on is the need for an off button–an option that may very well be up for grabs in the future.