For two weeks now, Google has been testing a behavioral targeting system on its partner sites and YouTube. Correction: according to this Google Blog post announcing the program, it’s not actually “behavioral targeting”, it’s ”interest-based advertising.” The words “behavior” and “targeting” do not appear in Google’s announcement.
The idea is simple: Google tracks your activity via a cookie, and if you are surfing pages about car repair or interior decorating, Google’s sites serve up ads that target you based on that behavior. Of course they make it sound warm, fuzzy and universally beneficial, saying that if you don’t mind “relevant” ads coming up based on your searches, you shouldn’t mind them coming up based on your other behavior. According to the post:
Keyword advertising has been so successful because it’s useful to users, advertisers and publishers — everyone’s interests are aligned. We believe that interest-based ads will create the same virtuous cycle, by giving users more relevant ads, while generating higher returns for advertisers and publishers.
I was unaware advertising was part of a “virtuous cycle”.
Fortunately, in apparent response to last month’s FTC report (.pdf), which warned the ad industry to provide privacy protections on behavioral advertising or risk government regulation, Google has provided some opt-out mechanisms. Of course, you’ll have to find them. And most people won’t, since they won’t even be aware their behavior is being targeted.
However, if you want to stop Google tracking your behavior, here are some methods to do so:
1. Google’s Ad Preferences Manager. Under the ironic title “Make the ads you see on the web more interesting,” you can either choose categories of ads you specifically want to see (“Industries > Chemicals > Coatings & Adhesives”…oh boy!), or click the “Opt out” button. This button will disable Google’s tracking cookie. However, if you ever clear your cookies, this setting will be lost, and you’ll opt back in by default.
2. Google’s Advertising Cookie Opt-Out Plug-in. This browser plug-in will allegedly stop Google tracking, and is available for Firefox and Internet Explorer. Users of Safari, Chrome and other browsers are simply provided with instructions to change their cookie acceptance settings. This means these users must change a global setting that affects other activities in order to avoid Google’s watchful eye.
3. Google is a member of the Network Advertising Initiative, which provides its own opt-out tool for “targeted advertising”. This tool also requires global settings changes for users of some browsers. Ironically, since the opt-out is itself a cookie, usually you’ll have to actually loosen your cookie restrictions to get it to work.
4. Switch to Yahoo? Sorry, no. They already instituted behavioral targeting last month.
Personally, I’m not going to stop Google tracking my behavior just yet. I think I’ll make a game of it. My browsing patterns are so bizarre and unpredictable, I’m a bit curious to see just what they think I’m interested in. Maybe I’ll even throw them off the trail on purpose…
Everyone knows what a wiki looks like: Wikipedia, right?
And everyone knows what a wiki is for: letting anyone contribute, right?
Well, not necessarily. A wiki engine (the software used to create and run wikis like Wikipedia) doesn’t actually care if you use it to make a “proper” wiki or not.
In fact, since wiki engines allow some users access to edit pages and stop others, what if you only allowed yourself access? Do you then still have a wiki? Or just a really easy-to-edit web site? One that you can edit from anywhere you can get to the internet?
But what about the plain-vanilla wiki look? What about the history/revision links, last edit information, and all the other clues that the user is looking at a wiki engine?
Enter our friend the CSS stylesheet, and one of our favorite commands,
{display:none;}
Voila! Restrict access and hide the wiki features, and you have an easy-to-edit, open-source-powered web site. A few examples:
Giving new meaning to the term “Twitter”, a very entrepreneurial little startup has started their own account to promote the services of their “massage providers” and “escorts”. Http://twitter.com/chicagoescorts (which is clearly not safe for work, unless you work in the porn industry) provides links to pictures and reviews of their newest employees, info on how to “get in touch” with them, and even prices. Plus, there are john-friendly forums like “What’s the Craziest Place You’ve Ever Had Sex”, and “What’s the Worst Thing She Can Do?”
It looks like the same people have set up accounts in about 30 major cities; @miamiescorts, @bostonescorts, etc. Altogether they have many hundreds if not thousands of followers.
Presumably this has benefits not just in marketing, but also in recruiting new employees. Recruiting is vital in any business, and I hear prostitution has a lot of turnover. [Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.]
For the record, I think prostitution should be legalized, taxed and regulated. I’d say Health and Human Services was tailor-made to oversee it; just look at the name. And if we can have “sin taxes” on other things, why not on the big daddy of them all?
But for the moment it’s illegal, at least on paper. So, a Twitter account? One might think this would give law enforcement a “leg up” in finding this company (which doesn’t appear to be hiding anyway). But it seems they know the police care more about busting the hooker on the street than the pseudo-respectable “escort company”.
But how about the over 100 people following this account? Many of whom have apparently real names and faces on their accounts?
Hi Chris! Saw you on the internet!
Isn’t there a possibility that one might get in a little hot water with the wife/girlfriend/employer/potential employer/clients/friends/family for keeping up with the local hookers in such a public fashion?
And what about those being followed? As of now, this company is only following their other escort accounts. But unless I’m wrong, Twitter allows you to follow whoever you want. So don’t be surprised if you one day find yourself trying to explain why there’s a link to a prostitution service on your Twitter page.
If you do have that conversation, please let me know. I’d love to hear how it goes.
