They Know Where You Are and What You Like

Mobile phones and other mobile devices have the ability to determine the geographical position of the device at any time. As well, this position can be sent to somebody else via the internet. If this 'somebody' else is an advertiser or marketer then interesting opportunities for marketing arise.

Smartphones could soon reveal a person's every move

February 21, 2011

The Age - Julian Lee

"The ability to combine a person's location at any given time with which websites or mobile applications they have visited on their smartphone's browser is opening a new world of possibilities for marketers. Within the next year, half the mobile phones in use will be smartphones such as Apple's iPhone or Samsung's Galaxy, embedded with technology that can pinpoint your position to within a metre."

The director of mobile advertising at Google, Michael Slinger, says: ''Location will be one of the cornerstones of mobile advertising. Merging local businesses with mobile [advertising] is very, very important for us.''

Q1. What are the privacy issues?

Q2. What value is geo-positioning to the consumer?

Q3. Describe one way a business could use geo-positioning for marketing.

$70 Million Lost in Scams

From the ACC web site:

http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/916279

"During 2009, losses reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission through scams totalled almost $70 million, ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell said today when launching Targeting scams - Report of the ACCC on scam activity 2009.

"Scams continue to make up a large proportion of total complaints that the ACCC receives and more than 20,000 scam reports were made to the ACCC in 2009 - a 16 per cent increase compared with 2008," Mr Kell said.

"Realistically, this figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg – given people can be embarrassed about reporting that they have fallen victim to scams and lost money in the process."

Online scams are the focus for the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce's 2010 Fraud Week campaign. The campaign, Online Offensive—Fighting Fraud Online runs from 1-7 March.

...The report notes that the dominance of online scams. "Nearly 70 per cent of consumers that contacted the ACCC about scams during 2009 said they were contacted by scammers via the internet," Mr Kell said."

Q1. How serious is this in relation to other crimes such as burglary and robbery?

Q2. Go to the Scam Watch web site: www.scamwatch.gov.au and find out how:

Identity theft works

What are 'Chain letter' scams?

Neural Marketing

- Neuromarketing is the study of how people's brains respond to advertising and other brand-related messages by scientifically monitoring brainwave activity, eye-tracking and skin response.

Forget about demographics, psychographics, benefits and values driving consumer behaviour! We can now get straight to the very core - your brain. With MRI scans we can tell how people respond to advertising by mapping which part of the brain is stimulated.

posted nov. 9, 2004

"But some companies are taking the practice several steps further, commissioning their own fMRI studies à la Montague's test. In a study of men's reactions to cars, Daimler-Chrysler has found that sportier models activate the brain's reward centers -- the same areas that light up in response to alcohol and drugs -- as well as activating the area in the brain that recognizes faces, which may explain people's tendency to anthropomorphize their cars."

Google: This Is Your Brain On Advertising

by Mark Walsh, Thursday, October 23, 2008, 11:03 PM

"Now Google is applying "neuromarketing" to video advertising. In a study released Thursday, Google and MediaVest used NeuroFocus findings to show that overlay ads appearing in YouTube videos grab consumers' attention and boost brand awareness.

YouTube-owner Google has championed overlay ads--which appear in the lower third of video screens--as a less intrusive alternative to pre-roll ads."

Investigate Neurofocus

Watch a CNN news report

Q1. Are there any ethical issues with neural marketing?

Q2. How effective do you think neural marketing could be?

Q3. What is the relationship to Behavioural Targetting?

Business Risks of Social Networking

The enthusiastic take up of social networking web services is showing up some serious issues of privacy and business risk.  In the early days of 'chat rooms' the risks were of unwanted attention from strangers and using pseudonyms or nick names to hide identity.  The style now is to reveal your identity and communicate relatively openly with your 'friends'.  The problem still remains, that your friends may not be that friendly.

Employers are also using social networking sites to check up employees and applicants for jobs.  There is an emerging private investigation business, that will do internet searches to gather information on people.  On the other hand businesses are at risk from employees revealing commercially sensitive information, or criticising their employer publicly.  The media had a few reports of recent events:

1. Digging up dirt: Facebook spies for hire - The Age 17/04/09
2. Telstra lays down the law on Twitter - The Age 20/04/09
3. Spokeo - people finder service
4. Enter 'people finder' into a search engine

Australia in the Digital Economy - Trust and Confidence

ACMA March 2009

http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_311655

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has just released an interesting report on the trends in the take-up and use of the internet by Australian consumers.

The evidence is that the growth and uptake of the internet is approaching saturation in Australia. However consumer behaviour in relation to e-commerce has a long way to go yet. Some of the interesting statistics:

1. Over 11 million use the internet for a variety activities
2. 27% prefer the internet as a source of information rather than radio, newspapers and TV
3. Over 80% of 18-64 year olds use the internet. Only the 70+ year olds have less than 50% usage.
4. Education level affects usage. Of those who have achieved senior secondary school or higher over 80% use the internet.
5. There is a very positive attitude to use of the internet, which declines with age, but stays relatively high across education levels. However there are significant concerns about privacy and security.
6. There is still a significant barrier to internet use for some due to the complexity and technology.
7. However internet users’ measures against online risks and dangers are quite low with less than 50% have anti-virus software and about 22% having a firewall.
8. There is a low level of knowledge of risks and measures to reduce risk.
9. Just over 68% are self-taught and less than 18% received formal training.
10. All internet users rate themselves as having average or well above average skills.

Q1. How would you describe the take-up of the internet from a marketing point of view?

Q2. What should internet marketers pay more attention to in the light of these results?

Q3. What are the emerging marketing opportunities?

Behavioural Targeting Advertising

Just when you think it is safe for a dip into cyber space, Google has announced a new service that 'profiles' your web surfing behaviour and delivers targeted ads to web sites that you visit.

These are called 'Ads Preferences' by Google.  You can edit them to specify your interests and you can opt out if you do  not want your web surfing behaviour tracked and categorised. Microsoft has already put in place its own consumer behaviour profiling based on Hotmail user browsing patterns.  While Google and Microsoft have been relatively open about their bhavioural targeting, less ethical operators install cookies on your computer (spyware)  that also track your browsing and use that informaton to deliver targeted ads and emails to you.

There are significant privacy concerns and ethical issues!

Ars Technica: Google's new behavioral ads already raising privacy worries

Ars Technica:  Microsoft behavioral advertising technology goes global

Google Ads Preferences: Make the ads you see on the web more interesting

Google Blog: Making Ads More Interesting

BBC: Google serves up behavioural ads

Microsoft: Behavioural targeting gives Vauxhall a higher gear

PC World: Google's Behavioral Ad Targeting: How to Reclaim Control

Opt Out Options from PC World:

Network Advertising Initiative's Opt-Out Tool

Google's ad system has its own opt-out page here

Yahoo's targeting program lets you say "no thanks"here

Q1. Is this a privacy issue that can produce a consumer backlash?

Q2. What are the ethical issues in relation to marketing?

Q3. Is 'behavioural targeting' an effective marketing strategy?

Health and Medical Records on the Internet

Recently Google and Microsoft have launched two internet based products for people to maintain their medical and health information on line. Both products are still 'beta' and are only USA based. Being internet based, your medical records are available anytime, anywhere.

Imagine that you are travelling abroad and have a medical emergency. By providing your login the local doctor can access your on-line medical record to help him/her provide the most appropriate assistance. Sound good? Google and Microsoft also provide links with health service providers to upload their medical records to your Google/Microsoft medical record web site. There are also 'value-added' services to find doctors, clinics and even connect some medical devices directly to the PC to upload the data to your medical record!

Links:
The Age: This Won't Hurt a Bit
Google Health
Microsoft HealthVault

Questions:
1. What are the security and privacy issues?
2. What are the marketing opportunities for health service and product providers?
3. Who makes money out of this and how?

Marketing segmentation through social media

From Paul Gillin's blog - Social Media and the Open Enterprise

Please go to Paul's blog to read the full post.

Then go to the Umbria web site.

"For an apparel maker, Umbria analyzed postings to blogs and social networks to identify the following segments:

Fit Finders (39% of the population), Self Expressives (19%), Bargain Seekers (17%), Label Whores (11%) , Style Gurus (8%) and Dissenters (6%).

Here’s an example of segment characteristics: Fit Finders are Generation Xers looking for appropriate jeans for their changing physiques. . Low-waisted jeans aren't working for them any more, but “old person jeans” aren't appealing either. Plus-sized Fit Finders are looking for fashion-forward styles rather than shapeless designs.

Self Expressives want control. They want to distress their own jeans, design clothing reconstructed from jeans and add personal style to jeans through patches and embroiders.

Style Gurus are looking to be unique. They're looking for authenticity and real inspiration. "Some men are actually starting to become interested in wearing women's jeans because they view them as more stylish," he said. These insights emerged from online conversations."

1. How accurate or useful do you think this segmentation is?
2. Can the results be skewed or manipulated?
3. What are the ethical and privacy issues?

Behavioral Targeting

We know what you clicked last night
The Age June 20, 2007 - 2:55PM Reuters

"Personal identity has taken on a new meaning in the digital age, where basic facts like your name, address or age are far less important to some people than the collected records of what you were looking at online.

Technologies for monitoring and interpreting internet habits as a predictor of future behavior cropped up at the start of this century, but only now are gaining momentum as the newest gold mine for websites and their advertisers. Known as behavioral targeting, the premise is to follow the sites you visit and build a picture of what products may interest you, then deliver related advertising in time for you to choose your purchase."

This article explores new methods for targeting consumers based on their internet habits. With many people having a public internet presence with blogs, websites, myspace, facebook and other social networking web sites, a great deal of personal data is exposed. While this gives marketers some interesting opportunities, there are ethical and privacy issues.

Latest article:
Every click you make, they'll be watching you

1. How effective do you think this web tracking technology is?

2. From a marketing perspective, what are the ethical issues?

3. From a consumer's perspective, what would be their concerns?

Smile you are on googles candid camera

http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/smile-youre-on-googles-candid-camera/2007/06/04/1180809390551.html


Hmmmm!!

Interesting

Word of mouth and internet favoured by youth

Hi Class,

We have been talking about this subject in class, so thought id add this article published in B & T 22/5/07

Word of mouth and internet favoured by youth

New research has underlined the power of word of mouth and the internet among 16 to 24 year-olds when discovering new brands, while TV and newspaper consumption continues its downward spiral.
In a study commissioned by AdShel and carried out by research firm The Seed into the behavioural patterns of this age group, it was found young people usually only listen to the radio in the morning or while driving; they have reduced TV watching to favourite "core shows", borrow DVDs to watch at their convenience and skip ads, or download shows from the internet; and don't even think about picking up a newspaper. This is backed by figures from the Roy Morgan Single Source for July 2005 to June 2006, which show 16-24 year-olds are 35% more likely to engage in heavy "out-of-home" activity, 16% are likely to engage heavily in magazines, 4% in extensive radio and 2% in heavy internet use.Respondents also revealed that they discovered their current favourite brand through a combination of word of mouth, advertising and the internet. Technology brands such as Apple, Nokia, LG, iriver and Motorola are popular with both sexes. However, specifically among boys, brands such as Red Bull, Oroton, Rip Curl, Billabong, Nike, DKNY and Asics are the picks.The favourites among girls are brands such as Sportsgirl, Converse, Covergirl, Maybelline, Chanel, Bonds, Hugo Boss and Adidas, according to the survey.In terms of advertising, a level of intrigue or creative that is a little confronting, were deemed to be the most effective.

MySpace to Share Data With States on Offenders

By BRAD STONE

Published: May 22, 2007 New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO, May 21 — MySpace and the 50 state attorneys general appear to have made peace.

In a statement released Monday, MySpace, the popular social networking site, said it had agreed to hand over to the states the names, addresses and online profiles of thousands of known convicted sex offenders who have opened up accounts on the service.

The company also said it had deleted the online profiles of 7,000 convicted sexual predators, whose names were flagged through the cross-matching of its membership rolls with a database of registered sex offenders maintained by Sentinel Tech Holding.

MySpace to turn over sex-offender data after all

The Complying Game

By Dan Goodin in San Francisco → More by this author

Published Monday 21st May 2007 19:56 GMT - The Register

The use of MySpace by registered sex offenders is only one of a litany of abuses critics have heaped on the social networking site. Other complaints include MySpace's liberal rules for the use of javascript, which in the past has allowed users to infect visitors' machines with malware. Also an issue is the growing prevalence of spam in MySpace Groups, much of which redirects users to scatological porn sites so shocking and vile they aren't fit for adult viewing let alone viewing by children.

The state AGs have been calling on MySpace to do more to protect children from such threats. Among other things, they have urged MySpace to raise the age requirement for members from 14 years old to 16 and to verify both the age and identify of its users. ®

Discussion Questions:
1. Is there a privacy issue here?
2. Can this be extended to other categories of users to be reported on?
3. What obligation has MySpace for the protection of underage users?
4. What ethical issues does this raise for marketing on the internet?

You're a Nobody Unless Your Name Googles Well

from the Wall Street Journal On-Line
By KEVIN J. DELANEY
May 8, 2007; Page A1

"In the age of Google, being special increasingly requires standing out from the crowd online. Many people aspire for themselves -- or their offspring -- to command prominent placement in the top few links on search engines or social networking sites' member lookup functions. But, as more people flood the Web, that's becoming an especially tall order for those with common names. Type "John Smith" into Google's search engine and it estimates it has 158 million results. (See search results.)

For people prone to vanity searching -- punching their own names into search engines -- absence from the first pages of search results can bring disappointment. On top of that, some of the "un-Googleables" say being crowded out of search results actually carries a professional and financial price."

1. What is changing in consumer behaviour when people publicise themselves freely and openly in MySpace, Youtube, Blogs, FaceBook, LinkedIn?
2. What implications does this have for privacy concerns?
3. Has the "15 minutes of fame" claim by Andy Warhol come true?
"The expression is a paraphrase of Andy Warhol's statement in 1968 that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.""

Do Not Call Register

3 May 2007

Do Not Call Register launched

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, launched the national Do Not Call Register today.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is responsible for establishing and overseeing the Do Not Call Register, determining the fees telemarketers will be charged for accessing the register and for investigating breaches of the Do Not Call Register legislation. ACMA is also responsible for developing a national standard for minimum levels of conduct by telemarketers and research callers.

The Do Not Call Register enables individuals with Australian fixed line and mobile numbers to list their fixed and mobile telephone numbers on the register and opt out of receiving a wide range of telemarketing calls.

Registration of a telephone number is easy, quick and free.

From today, individuals are able to register their telephone numbers, if they are used primarily for private or domestic purposes, through the Do Not Call website, at www.donotcall.gov.au or by post.

Individuals will be able to register by telephone from 22 May 2007. It may take up to 30 days for a registration to become effective.

Under the legislated scheme, it will generally be unlawful to make telemarketing calls to numbers placed on the register from 31 May 2007.

http://internet.aca.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD//pc=PC_100642

1. How effective do you think this is? Will this kill the telemarketing industry?
2. What about telemarketing calls from other countries?
3. Can a consumer agree to some category of calls but not to others?

Contextual Marketing

contextual marketing

From TechTarget 27-04-07

Contextual marketing is an online marketing model in which people are served with targeted advertising based on terms they search for or their recent browsing behavior. By tying the ads users see to their demonstrated interests, advertisers hope to decrease user annoyance with online marketing and, simultaneously, increase clickthrough and conversion rates. Google's AdSense program, for example, is a straightforward version of contextual marketing, in which ads are displayed based on the terms that the user searches for.

In a more sophisticated application, contextual marketing uses an approach called behavioral targeting to serve relevant advertising. Here's an example: The user searches for mid-size car reviews, reads one or two reviews and then reads an article about fuel-efficient models. Next, the user might visit a general news site and see, to his surprise, ads for hybrid vehicles and biofuels.

To the unsuspecting user, the appearance of ads relevant to his interests -- on seemingly unrelated sites -- may seem like pure coincidence, or even synchronicity. In fact, however, each time the user performs a search, reads an article or clicks on an ad, a cookie stored on the computer tracks the activity, which is used to create a behavioral profile of the consumer for marketing purposes.

Behavioral targeting is usually conducted throughout so-called "ad networks" of affiliated Web sites. TACODA, Inc., for example, is an Internet marketing company that oversees an ad network of 4,500 sites. According to the company's chairman, David Morgan, TACODA sees 80 percent of the U.S. online population 50 times a month, through sites including Cars.com, CBS Sports and the Wall Street Journal.

MORE INFO:
> ContextualMarketing.com provides an article called 'Everything You Need To Know About Contextual Marketing.'
> SearchCRM.com offers a chapter download, 'Market-Driven Thinking: Achieving Contextual Intelligence.'
> Ask.com is launching new sponsored contextual advertising listings and will go live the week of May 21st.
> A Harvard Business School journal article, Contextual Marketing: The Real Business of the Internet, explains more about the practice.

Google and Privacy

Google has recently acquired DoubleClick, a leading on-line based advertising company. Concerns have been expressed about the dangers of one organisation having access to a vast amount of personal information.

Google to Buy DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion

Google in Privacy Hot Seat
"Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick will give one company access to more information about the Internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world."

How Paranoid Should I Be about Google?

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 12:06 PM PT Posted by Edward N. Albro

What I search for: Google's cookie lasts for decades and could be keeping a record of every search query I submit.

What Web sites I've visited since 1996: DoubleClick's been around longer than Google and has probably had its own tracking cookie on every computer I've used virtually since I started browsing the Net.

What I write and read in email: I have two Gmail accounts with a total of 26,389 messages, all of which have been scanned by Google so they can place contextual ads within them.

What I'm doing when: Google Calendar doesn't have all of my activities, but it's got a lot.

What's on my hard drive: Google Desktop indexes the contents of my hard drive and mixes search results from that index in with my Web search results.

Where I go: I've got Google's great Maps app on my Treo and use it frequently to get directions to new places.

What I'm producing: So far, I've only dabbled with Google's Docs & Spreadsheets applications,

1. How is DoubleClick different from Google?
2. What can Google gain from this acquisition?
3. What can be done to protect privacy in this situation?

Google Privacy Statement Highlights
DoubleClick Privacy Statement

Internet Security

New Woman [newsletter@newwoman.com.au]
The computer stole my privacy!So much for technology making our lives easier, studies have shown we're actually spending more time at work and now our privacy is in danger, with reports of cyber stalking and identity theft at an all time high. This new form of 21st Century crime even prompted George Bush to sign a Cyber-stalking bill recently, making it a crime to be online 'with the intent to annoy'. Not that it's restricted to the virtual world. One poor New Woman staffer was shocked to discover while out on a romantic dinner, that a strange woman at a nearby table was trying to send messages to her boyfriend via the bluetooth on her mobile. Even more disturbing is the case of murdered Adelaide teen, Carly Ryan. Her body was found floating in shallow water at Port Elliot, and police quickly tracked her killers through her MySpace site. It appears the father and son pair had befriended Miss Ryan through the website and arranged a meeting before she dissappeared. Consider yourselves warned, ladies.

Hope this post works...VK