Big Brother by request
The new system of behavioral advertising, which determines the interests of users through long-term surveillance, has stirred up the public.
What is this - another intrusion into the privacy of Internet users or a new profitable business model for online advertising? A new approach to “behavioral” Internet advertising, pioneered by companies such as Phorm , NebuAd and FrontPorch , can be called both at the same time. The principle of this advertisement is that Internet providers install special software in their networks that allows you to intercept requests from web pages that originate from Internet users. Each requested web page is delivered to the user, as before, however, its content is carefully scanned for different keywords in order to create a personal profile of interests for each user. Then, these dossiers can be used for high-precision advertising.
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For example, a person is looking for travel sites. It links to pages that contain words like “weekend”, “flight” and “hotel”. The behavioral targeting system monitors it and makes a note that this user's interests include travel. Later, when he visits a website of a social network, in order to read his tape of friends, next to new entries and pictures of his friends, he will be shown advertising for air carriers and other tour companies.
For advertisers, the above sounds, of course, very tempting. Firms that are engaged in behavioral targeting flash here and there in the markets of Europe and America, offering to inform the client of the user's most intimate thoughts, even before he has time to realize them. If this technology really works, then advertisers will have to additionally shell out for placing their advertising, since it will become more effective. In turn, this means that Internet sites will be able to raise prices for advertising space on their pages. Some share will also be due to providers who actually collect those very personal files.
Companies that are involved in the promotion of this technology, expect that users will only be happy if, thanks to a more accurate targeting, Internet advertising will turn into a useful service. “This system will reduce the amount of garbage that is poured out on Internet users,” said the head of Phorm, Kent Itagral.
However, not everyone welcomes this idea. The biggest scandal opponents of behavioral advertising raised in the UK, where, it would seem, this technology got accustomed most successfully: the three largest Internet service providers (BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk), which account for% 70 of the market, signed contracts for the use of Phorm tachnology. Since news of their plans appeared in February, more than 13,000 people have signed an online statement against the system. Lawyers, as well as Internet experts, argue that this is an illegal “wiretapping” and therefore illegal. A computer security expert from the University of Cambridge, Richard Clayton, who carefully examined the Phorm system, did not like what he saw. Summing up his research, Richard said that supporters of behavioral targeting “believe that if people understood the technical side of the issue, they would be delighted. Nevertheless, although I figured out the technology, I do not feel any enthusiasm. ”
Phorm, which is now trying to push its technology also to American providers, emphasizes that consumers will have the opportunity to delete their candidacy from participation in the system, as long as they have such a desire to appear. Also, the company indicates that information about what the user is doing on the Internet will be kept by providers (who already have access to such information) and that personal files will associate keywords not so much with names as with anonymous serial numbers. In addition, information from such spicy sources as online banking sites will not be recorded in the dossier, and porn sites will not be advertised in the system.
However, reviewers are worried that behavioral advertising seriously undermines the foundations of trust between providers and their customers, as it allows third parties to observe the personal lives of millions of people. They are also concerned about how Phorm behaved in the past. Until the previous year, she was known as 121Media and collected information about the interests of Internet users, giving them special software for downloading that went along with other programs. This software monitored the behavior of users on the Internet and, based on the data collected, showed advertisements on pop-up windows, which once had already caused a major scandal on the network.
All this was completely legal, until the people found that the software from 121Media is extremely difficult to remove from their computer. The fact that the company, which was later renamed Phorm, was accused of having conducted secret tests of its behavioral advertising technology in 2006 and 2007, observing the behavior of thousands of users without their knowledge, did not benefit its reputation.
As the passions run high, the word “Google” is increasingly skipping. For years, ISPs watched with envy as Google enriched itself at the expense of their user base, while they themselves were relegated to “water pipes” that pump Internet traffic to their customers, having no access at least to some profits that went to the giants of the advertising business. Phorm promises to change this situation by offering providers a share of the juicy pie of online advertising. Firms that provide behavioral advertising services are also trying to present themselves as losers, but not broken players, raising a rebellion against the all-powerful Google. Unlike Google, which retains information about user search queries for up to two years, Phorm stresses that it does not store detailed information about user behavior. (Recently, the Commission of the European Communities demanded that Google remove such information after six months). “If people only knew what is stored there, they would be shocked,” says Itagral from Phorm. According to him, their system is a “model for online privacy.”
Despite this, most Internet users are willing to use the services of Google, which provides a search engine in exchange for the right to display relevant advertising. Itagrall claims that, thanks to behavioral targeting, providers will start to profit from online advertising, which will allow them, in turn, to improve the quality of their services without raising the price for customers. “Such a symbiosis can be an excellent way to finance the work of the Internet,” he said.
Behavioral targeting may be a good idea, however, if you implement it without the knowledge of users, they will feel hurt when they learn about it. Without appropriate moral preparation, the option of refusing to participate in the system will be perceived as an uninvited invasion of privacy. However, a system built on the principle of voluntary participation, and which will be accompanied by the necessary PR company, looks quite real.
Translation from English:
Roman Ravve
Crossposted from worldwebstudio
What is this - another intrusion into the privacy of Internet users or a new profitable business model for online advertising? A new approach to “behavioral” Internet advertising, pioneered by companies such as Phorm , NebuAd and FrontPorch , can be called both at the same time. The principle of this advertisement is that Internet providers install special software in their networks that allows you to intercept requests from web pages that originate from Internet users. Each requested web page is delivered to the user, as before, however, its content is carefully scanned for different keywords in order to create a personal profile of interests for each user. Then, these dossiers can be used for high-precision advertising.
')
For example, a person is looking for travel sites. It links to pages that contain words like “weekend”, “flight” and “hotel”. The behavioral targeting system monitors it and makes a note that this user's interests include travel. Later, when he visits a website of a social network, in order to read his tape of friends, next to new entries and pictures of his friends, he will be shown advertising for air carriers and other tour companies.
For advertisers, the above sounds, of course, very tempting. Firms that are engaged in behavioral targeting flash here and there in the markets of Europe and America, offering to inform the client of the user's most intimate thoughts, even before he has time to realize them. If this technology really works, then advertisers will have to additionally shell out for placing their advertising, since it will become more effective. In turn, this means that Internet sites will be able to raise prices for advertising space on their pages. Some share will also be due to providers who actually collect those very personal files.
Companies that are involved in the promotion of this technology, expect that users will only be happy if, thanks to a more accurate targeting, Internet advertising will turn into a useful service. “This system will reduce the amount of garbage that is poured out on Internet users,” said the head of Phorm, Kent Itagral.
However, not everyone welcomes this idea. The biggest scandal opponents of behavioral advertising raised in the UK, where, it would seem, this technology got accustomed most successfully: the three largest Internet service providers (BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk), which account for% 70 of the market, signed contracts for the use of Phorm tachnology. Since news of their plans appeared in February, more than 13,000 people have signed an online statement against the system. Lawyers, as well as Internet experts, argue that this is an illegal “wiretapping” and therefore illegal. A computer security expert from the University of Cambridge, Richard Clayton, who carefully examined the Phorm system, did not like what he saw. Summing up his research, Richard said that supporters of behavioral targeting “believe that if people understood the technical side of the issue, they would be delighted. Nevertheless, although I figured out the technology, I do not feel any enthusiasm. ”
Phorm, which is now trying to push its technology also to American providers, emphasizes that consumers will have the opportunity to delete their candidacy from participation in the system, as long as they have such a desire to appear. Also, the company indicates that information about what the user is doing on the Internet will be kept by providers (who already have access to such information) and that personal files will associate keywords not so much with names as with anonymous serial numbers. In addition, information from such spicy sources as online banking sites will not be recorded in the dossier, and porn sites will not be advertised in the system.
However, reviewers are worried that behavioral advertising seriously undermines the foundations of trust between providers and their customers, as it allows third parties to observe the personal lives of millions of people. They are also concerned about how Phorm behaved in the past. Until the previous year, she was known as 121Media and collected information about the interests of Internet users, giving them special software for downloading that went along with other programs. This software monitored the behavior of users on the Internet and, based on the data collected, showed advertisements on pop-up windows, which once had already caused a major scandal on the network.
All this was completely legal, until the people found that the software from 121Media is extremely difficult to remove from their computer. The fact that the company, which was later renamed Phorm, was accused of having conducted secret tests of its behavioral advertising technology in 2006 and 2007, observing the behavior of thousands of users without their knowledge, did not benefit its reputation.
As the passions run high, the word “Google” is increasingly skipping. For years, ISPs watched with envy as Google enriched itself at the expense of their user base, while they themselves were relegated to “water pipes” that pump Internet traffic to their customers, having no access at least to some profits that went to the giants of the advertising business. Phorm promises to change this situation by offering providers a share of the juicy pie of online advertising. Firms that provide behavioral advertising services are also trying to present themselves as losers, but not broken players, raising a rebellion against the all-powerful Google. Unlike Google, which retains information about user search queries for up to two years, Phorm stresses that it does not store detailed information about user behavior. (Recently, the Commission of the European Communities demanded that Google remove such information after six months). “If people only knew what is stored there, they would be shocked,” says Itagral from Phorm. According to him, their system is a “model for online privacy.”
Despite this, most Internet users are willing to use the services of Google, which provides a search engine in exchange for the right to display relevant advertising. Itagrall claims that, thanks to behavioral targeting, providers will start to profit from online advertising, which will allow them, in turn, to improve the quality of their services without raising the price for customers. “Such a symbiosis can be an excellent way to finance the work of the Internet,” he said.
Behavioral targeting may be a good idea, however, if you implement it without the knowledge of users, they will feel hurt when they learn about it. Without appropriate moral preparation, the option of refusing to participate in the system will be perceived as an uninvited invasion of privacy. However, a system built on the principle of voluntary participation, and which will be accompanied by the necessary PR company, looks quite real.
Translation from English:
Roman Ravve
Crossposted from worldwebstudio
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/31599/
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