Tag Archives: targeting

Can websites scan anonymous web traffic and personally identify visitors ?

This guy visited UberVu.com without providing any personal info or being logged into any service and a day later, he got an email from them:

Recently, I visited the landing & pricing page at UberVu.com. I did not signup for anything, did not leave my email, did not connect with any of their social media properties.  One day later, I get an email (see attached image).

I’m sure they triangulated some information but how could they pin point to personally identify me? Is this common & so blatant (or even legal)?

Interesting discussion over at Hacker News that triangulates it down to two tracking services– Trackalyzer and LeadlanderCan websites personally identify visitors? | Hacker News.

Verizon to start targeted advertising this week, will be optional – SlashGear

Verizon is testing it’s targeting program, which is opt-in if users want to participate and share their data:

If you’re a customer of Verizon‘s, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for an email, text message, or notification mentioning the carrier’s new “Verizon Selects” program. In exchange for sharing your data usage, such as location, web browsing, and mobile app usage data, you’ll get targeted advertisements delivered to you by either email, text messages, or other forms of mobile advertising.

via Verizon to start targeted advertising this week, will be optional – SlashGear.

An important point above is that email is mobile advertising.  Maybe it’s time for a resurgence in that business.

Facebook: Relevant Ads That Protect Your Privacy

Facebook assures users that we should not be worried about privacy issues with targeted ads.  They also remind us that advertising helps keep Facebook free:

Advertising helps keep Facebook free. We believe we can create value for the people who use our services every day by offering relevant ads that also incorporate industry-leading privacy protections. In our view, this is a win-win situation for marketers and for you.

via Relevant Ads That Protect Your Privacy | Facebook.

But remember, if you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer, you’re the product being sold!

 

Facebook raises fears with ad tracking

Facebook is working with a controversial data company called Datalogix that can track whether people who see ads on the social networking site end up buying those products in stores.

via Facebook raises fears with ad tracking – CNN.com.

Quick thoughts here:

- This is not a new thing.  Doubleclick tried this in 2000 and ultimately had to cancel their plans (DoubleClick postpones data-merging plan)

- There are companies that are already doing this.  They are just not doing it at Facebook scale.  There’s a huge difference operationally when you’re doing this stuff in the margins vs. doing it as one of the top online properties

- Big question to be answer is whether times have changed so much that users won’t push back on these plans this time around.  We shall see.

Facebook Retargeting- Currently beta testing a feature that lets advertisers target users (or friends of users) who performed a specific Open Graph action via a specific application

via Noam Schwartz – FB retargeting?:

Facebook is currently beta testing a feature that lets advertisers target users (or friends of users) who performed a specific Open Graph action via a specific application. Together with smart CPM pricing tactics, that’s a game changer for app developers. Remember where you read it for the first time.

For example:

“targeting={‘countries’:['US'], ‘action_spec’:[{'action.type':

'video.view','application':12345667}]}”

Users can now be targeted based on their use of the app. In this example we can target FB users who viewed a video on the app with app ID 1234567.

Again, unless you are a FB partner, preferred developer or have access to one – you’ll have to wait a bit.

Link to Facebook page with specification (last updated two months ago, April 2012):
Action Spec Targeting › Ads API › Action Spec Targeting

Facebook is beta testing a targeting feature – called “Action Spec Targeting” — for our interested Ads API partners. The new feature is designed to help advertisers target users based on actions they have performed. Because this feature is still in beta, we expect it to change. Please keep that in mind as you test this new feature in your campaigns and tools.

Action specs are used to describe actions people have taken on Open Graph objects via an application or on on-Facebook objects directly. Action Specs can be used to target Ads at users or friends of users who have performed a specific action, e.g. target an ad group at users who listened to music on a specific app or commented on a page post. Please review the the action spec documentation for more details on how action specs are defined.

Note: It is not possible to target a ‘like’ of a Facebook page via action specs. Note: Action specs are limited to be a maximum of 4096 characters in length.

In Ad Network Nightmare, Microsoft Making ‘Do Not Track’ Default for IE 10 | Threat Level | Wired.com

Microsoft announced Thursday that the next version of its browser, IE 10, will ship with the controversial “Do Not Track” feature turned on by default, a first among major browsers, creating a potential threat to online advertising giants.

via In Ad Network Nightmare, Microsoft Making ‘Do Not Track’ Default for IE 10 | Threat Level | Wired.com.

This is interesting on so many levels:

  • Internal politics at Microsoft since they own web advertising businesses
  • IE’s role in a changing landscape where their market share is in decline
  • Strategic implications on their biggest competition (Google)
  • Power shift to media is can track intent without cookies (search engines)
  • Whether this announcement at this juncture is good or bad for DNT

Ultimately, I’m curious whether this means Microsoft is no longer making decisions like a monopolist (or a firm with a lot of market power).