Every Click You Make

Posted on April 3, 2006
Tags: Internet |

Is this ridiculous or what..

Claria said it would announce Monday the release of PersonalWeb, a service that will let people download a piece of tracking software and receive a home page filled with news stories and other information tailored to their interests.

..

Claria says that because those ads are so closely aligned to the user’s interests and recent behavior, marketers will be willing to pay more than they might on other sites for the ability to reach PersonalWeb users.

That part of Claria’s plan is convincing enough for some analysts, and privacy advocates appear satisfied that Claria will stand by its pledge to track only the computer (whose owner it does not identify), not the personal information of the user. Whether many consumers will use the service anyway — and give marketers an audience worth pursuing — is the big question.

Err I don’t think so. Let’s see what have we got here, basically that’s asking people to voluntarily install adware on their PC’s which tracks which sites they visit and shows ads to match that.. what a brilliant and revolutionary idea, not. Well what can you expect from a company who released something like Gator to this world.

This sounds more realistic:

“I’m not convinced that consumers will place enough of a value on personalization that they’ll be willing to download a piece of software and change their home page just to try it,” said Kenneth Cassar, an analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings, an Internet consultancy.

They’ll be watching you, if you’re dumb enough to let them.

Comments

One Response to “Every Click You Make”

  1. Scott on April 5th, 2006 1:42 pm

    Yes, it’s ridiculous.

    Hey Claria, WIIFM*?

    You know, if they offered some sort of a revenue-sharing plan with the users whose information they are trying to monetize for their own profit, they might have a slightly better offer to make. Otherwise, forget it.

    Of course, as you already pointed out, this is the same company that showed absolutely *no* regard whatsoever for peoples’ privacy with earlier products. And, we’re supposed to trust them, now?

    What did Gomer Pyle say once? “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

    I think I’ll pass.

    *What’s In It For Me

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