The other day I was shopping for a T-shirt with a skull on it.  One of the sites that I found one on was Overstock.com.  I was just window shopping and didn’t purchase anything.  Can you imagine how surprised I was when I was visiting blogs yesterday and came across an ad for Overstock.com with the exact same T-shirt that I had looked at.  Hmm, weird.  Then I came across it again, and again, and again.  I’m beginning to think this is no longer a coincidence (I’m a little slow this morning) and then I come across this article from Site Pro News (now that WAS a coincidence).

“Have you ever been surfing the web and come upon Internet advertising that provides a direct solution for something that you’ve been researching lately? Did you think that it might be related to your computer cookies, or did you chalk it up to serendipity?

The fact is, it almost certainly wasn’t a coincidence.  Behavior-based Internet advertising is a relatively new and very powerful way for advertisers to get their message in front of potential buyers that they know to be qualified.  The question is, how do they know that the surfer is qualified?

The advertisers know this because the Internet advertising network is tracking the surfers’ online activity.  With tracking, advertisers know what sites you like.  They know what searches you make.  They have profiled you, and, unlike in real life, profiling on the web is AOK — so far.

Check Your Computer for Cookies

Before we get into the legal issues involved, perhaps a further definition of the technology is in order.  Most (but not all) behavioral Internet advertising is based on computer “cookies.”  These computer cookies are tiny files that are placed on your machine when you visit certain websites.  In the simplest form, you go to a web page.  An advertiser has a blank spot, or placeholder, for a banner ad.  But instead of serving up just any banner ad, the advertiser parses through your computer for cookies to discover your likes and dislikes, and then you are fed Internet advertising based on your online behavior.

For some people, this is no big deal.  They like Internet advertising to be targeted toward them, and they don’t mind computer cookies.  For others, it’s a little Orwellian and creepy.  This leads us to the great debate.

Opt-in or Opt-out?

One big question to be resolved is whether ultimately this type of Internet advertising will be “opt-in” (meaning that a user has to sign up in order to receive targeted ads) or “opt-out” (meaning that a user will receive targeted ads unless they specifically ask not to).

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to know which side the advertisers are on.  If governmental regulators eventually require that all Internet advertising be “opt-in”, the industry will be severely restricted.  My guess is that it would relegate behavior-based Internet advertising to a fringe player in the online marketing world.

The privacy advocates, naturally, are on the other side of the fence.  The vast majority of people assume that their online activity is not being tracked, they say.  Why should they have to take a specific action in order to remove computer cookies and to not be tracked and profiled?

A Do Not Track List?

Recently, a group of nine consumer advocate groups proposed the idea of a “Do Not Track” list for Internet advertising, which would work in a similar fashion as the “Do Not Call” list works today.  Naturally, this is an “Opt-out” scenario, but because of the attention that the formation of such a list would bring, it may be a suitable compromise between advertiser and advocate.

How to Prevent Being Tracked

It is fairly easy to prevent being tracked by advertisers.  You simply prevent your machine from accepting computer cookies.  Go to START, SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL and click on INTERNET OPTIONS then the PRIVACY tab.  (Note that these instructions assume you are working with a Windows XP system. The procedure will be similar, however, for other operating systems.)  Slide the bar all the way to the top to where it says “Block All Cookies.”

However, you should be aware that this change may limit your Internet experience.  Some websites will not display properly (or at all) if you do not accept computer cookies.  In my experience, at least one of the top five search engines will not work at all.  Other engines have limited functionality when you block Internet advertising.

Even if you do manage to turn off your computer cookies, don’t rest easy just yet.

The Newest Technology

Recently, it was announced that a Silicon Valley startup named NebuAd has created a new technology that does not require computer cookies.  Under the NebuAd model, the company teams up directly with service providers and installs equipment directly at their facilities that allows them to track the behavior of individuals on the web, even if their machine does not accept computer cookies.  This, of course, requires Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to embrace the new technology; naturally, they are given a piece of the Internet advertising revenue that is generated.  Whether or not any of the major players embrace this technology will probably depend largely on public outcry, or lack thereof.  Of course, if this does become the newest behavioral targeting standard, we will return again to the question of “Opt-in” or “Opt-out.”

Conclusion

The future of this approach to Internet advertising is unclear, and will depend largely on public education and reaction.  Will people see value in receiving targeted ads, even if it means that somewhere there is an “anonymous” profile of them sitting on a server?  Will they feel outraged and push for a total ban?  It’s hard to say.”

Author:  Scott Buresh is the CEO of Medium Blue, which was recently named the number one search engine optimization company in the world by PromotionWorld.  Scott has contributed content to many publications including Building Your Business with Google For Dummies (Wiley, 2004), MarketingProfs, ZDNet, WebProNews, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine

This is so freakin annoying.  I can’t stand dealing with underhanded, obnoxious, scheming advertisers.  Don’t they know that they are hurting their clients.  Don’t their clients realize that bad advertising practices will come back to bite them in the ass?

Spammers SUCK – every single last one of them.  I am always trying to come up with new and inventive ways to advertise online, but one thing I have never, ever pushed was spamming.  It is one of the most loathsome practices on the internet today.  It’s everywhere, my blogs, my email, forums I’ve joined, online communities – I’m drowning in it.

It seems like everytime something cool comes around, like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, the nefarious internet scavengers come calling, saturating the community with their unwanted drivel.  I think they are ruining the internet.   They sure suck up a lot of my time.  I have to apologize to anyone leaving comments here lately.  I have been recieving around 500 spam comments a day and it gets a little hard to sift through them to find the real comments.  Every once in a while I’m clicking the spam button like crazy and accidentally delete a good comment.

I wish  I could come up with a new invention to stop all the spam on the internet.  The spam comments I get are bad enough but that isn’t it, I also get between 500-1000 spam emails a day.  It takes so much time to delete all the spam I don’t have time to do anything else online.  I don’t understand what these guys are thinking – “Hmm, let’s see, if I send out 300 comments in one hour for this product, that’s sure to make someone want to buy it AND then they definitely will approve the comment and I’ll get a permanent link on their website.  Now I’ll do the same thing to this list of 300,000,000 people I bought from this guy for $5 on some forum.”  Today I got lucky.  Some moron who is trying to sell shoes, left 300 Spam comments on my blog – 300 – so IRRITATING – anyway, the idiot actually leaves all of his correct inoformation so I sent an email to his host and then sent him an email telling him.  May be he won’t spam for a couple days.  Here is what I sent him:

I have HUNDREDS of this stupid comment on my blog – PLEASE STOP Spamming – It doesn’t work and you just irritate the hell out of everyone.  If I recieve one more of these I will contact GoDaddy and report you for spamming.

WHOIS Info

Registrant:
sharon chatman

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: GROUPSHOES.COM

Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.DNSPOOD.NET
NS2.DNSPOOD.NET

For complete domain details go to:

http://who.godaddy.com/whoischeck.aspx?Domain=GROUPSHOES.COM

groupshoes
http://www.groupshoes.com/ | sales@groupshoes.com | 58.22.68.150

I’m a little late finding this article, but I loved it.
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From Increase Your Sales With Blog Marketing, 2009/11/25 at 3:52 AM

Can anyone tell what I’ve been doing today?  If you could punish a spammer what would you do?