Thursday, September 18th 2008

The new Phorm for internet advertising?

Phorm have produced a programme that monitors users’ internet usage and can use the information to create more targeted advertising. Unsurprisingly, some people don’t think this is a very good idea: see The Open Rights Group argument. But is it necessary for the ISPs (internet service providers) and online firms such as Youtube, Facebook and even Google to use systems such as this to make money and continue to service their millions of users?

I would say definitely yes. The people who shy away from these systems are fearful of their privacy, which is understandable, but without this kind of targeted advertising I can’t see how the services we take for granted can continue. People hate the new Facebook and they dislike the applications and mistrust the advertising, but Facebook have to make money to continue to supply this kind of service. It’s coming to a point now that people, who for years have enjoyed an internet service where they can happily avoid advertising, are finding that their favourite websites are becoming as crowded with adverts as the London Underground. I think it’s something we’re all going to have to get used to, which is sad, but true.

Check out this article on the BBC website about how the Government has responded:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7619297.stm

Posted by Tasha on Thursday 18th of September 2008 at 12:28pm

Tags: Online stuff

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Comments

Do we really need targeted advertising?

Can advertising be effectively targeted by looking at someone's internet use?

I'm not over-bothered with the whole privacy thing, although I can understand that some people will be, my problem is the quality of the advertising I will become subjected to.

Posted by Richard on Thursday 18th of September 2008 at 1:09pm

I was on Myspace recently, somewhere I never usually go since I abandoned it for Facebook, and an advert came up for an online samba shop where I had purchased items from the week before. How did they know that I would be interested in that?

Posted by Tasha on Thursday 18th of September 2008 at 2:33pm

I'd quite like targeted advertising, provided they get it right.

I'm not very good at shopping so love emails from people like Amazon who let me know what I'd like to buy.

Tesco send me vouchers for things that I would normally buy too which is very nice of them so I get vouchers for wine and chocolate ice cream rather than cat food and nappies which I simply wouldn't use.

I'm not bothered about the whole privacy thing either, doesn't everyone know exactly what we all do anyway? Using loyalty cards at supermarkets has meant that they know what I buy. Surely this is the same?

Posted by Louise on Thursday 18th of September 2008 at 3:06pm

...which is one of the reasons I've stopped using loyalty cards.

Adverts annoy me. They are rarely relevant to me, unless they're for things like events that I might want to go to. I appreciate the technical and aesthetic merits of them (well... some of them), but I'm generally not that interested in the products. And I'm really not that sure they have that much of an effect on how I spend my money – I'm far more likely to be influenced by in-store promotions and packaging. Generally my advert recall is pretty poor, unless it's been a standout advert (good or bad).

This is not to say that I'm a member of the "consumerism is bad" brigade (although I do think over-consumerism is). I like my creature comforts as much as the next girl, and I'm a fully paid up member of the retail therapy gang, much to my bank manager's chagrin, I just don't care that much. So adverts being pushed in my face, even product placement in films and on the tv, is far more likely to annoy me than make me make a purchase.

Posted by Siân on Wednesday 24th of September 2008 at 11:30am

Yeah, but Louise almost bought some vitamins at lunch because of the happy woman on the packaging!

A lot of people are much more susceptible to advertising than others, but that advertising is aimed at them. Therefore, the idea is that you only get products you would like eg shoes that are like one's you've bought before.

Posted by Tasha on Wednesday 24th of September 2008 at 1:53pm

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