In other countries such as Japan, Spain and France the results are more obvious. In Japan, an estimated 44% percent of mobile users ACTUALLY click on these ads. This immediately creates a data source for calculating effective ROI by comparing the number of sales and user clicks of the advertisement.
Focusing on the US though, it’s a different story. For the most part, advertisers have engaged the issue by using traditional comparisons as described in Japan’s case. However, how does one measure ROI if say a user sees an advertisement on their phone or mobile device but uses their desktop to search/purchase the product? There are no cookies to track users on mobile phones.
This challenge has caused a lot of hesitation for advertisers. In the corporate advertising world, metrics are enormously important and advertising expenditure must be justified to continue the spending.
A New Innovation is born
Companies like BlueCava, Inc. and Google are working to offer a solution. Although there is no news on how Google is addressing the issue, BlueCava has laid the groundwork to a new tracking method. Using 1st and 3rd party data, BlueCava uses data mining to identify the consumer’s household computer and other mobile devices by assigning a unique identification number to each one in order to connect a purchase from one device to an advertisement seen on another.
Basically this means through data such as user names, frequently visited sites and 3rd party information BlueCava is connecting the dots to figure out which device is yours.
Privacy
In all actuality, I consider this intrusive and unsettling. I personally consider the former anonymity of the Internet to have been one of its greatest assets. Although advertisers and Google claim to only use these tools to better serve customers and to make the Internet more efficient; privacy is a pillar of the US Constitution, namely the 4th Amendment. Given the recent scandal with the NSA it’s hard to not look at companies like Google, Yahoo, and Verizon etc. and not feel somewhat violated by these advertising practices. The point is this: if privacy was truly a concern to these companies then most of the mobile advertising tools that are used today wouldn’t be in existence.
Is it really worth it to BlueCava to break my constitutional rights for some advertising data? Is advertising that important in the world? I feel violated and it makes me wonder, what's next? What other violations are going to occur?
ReplyDeleteIt’s amazing how M-commerce has increased in the last years, and more amazing how the marketing strategies are changing their methods to target new customers and no considering user’s privacy. It’s very interesting how certain countries keep track and calculate the ROI by the calculation of click and the number of sales. I wonder if the US is going to move to this method of tracking the ROI and if so, how this is going to impact our privacy. I think privacy is becoming a big issue, but I also believe that we are responsible on how we use technology.
ReplyDeleteSee this is the problem as the world becomes more and more advanced. I love that all this new technology is coming out and it is making easier and easier for us to do things throughout the internet. Is all this advancement worth having our everyday lives exposed and all our personal information dug through just so companies can make it "easier" on us to make a purchase?
ReplyDeleteOne of the more difficult to solve problems is that since we technically give these companies permission to track us (through those "often-read" End User License Agreements) we don't have a simple way to prevent being tracked. Basically said, if we want to use the technology, we've got to accept it with all of its caveats. Firefox was the first web browser with a Do Not Track option, with the other browsers following suit afterwards. Internet Explorer 10 was the first one to enable the Do Not Track feature as the default setting, which obviously was upsetting to many advertising companies.
ReplyDeleteDo you even know how to enable the Do Not Track feature on your browser? What about your cell phone? A lot of these "services" count on the end user either not knowing/caring or not knowing how to disable it.
One of the problems that I see happening right now is that we never look for the disclaimers when downloading applications for our smart phones and we don’t realize that we are giving permission for them to see our preferences.
ReplyDeleteIt’s so easy to take a picture of something and posted in our social networks. We pretty much just lose control of what we upload to the internet. Sometimes I feel that my privacy has been bridged
. The use of my cell phone is been use to my service but it’s also working as an advertising tool for companies.
Internet privacy is without question becoming a huge deal with online users. I am a huge advocate when it comes to security of my internet usage not to mention the privacy that is my constitutional right. The problem is, tracking a persons digital shadow is big business!! The money that is poured into these programs and advertising companies is ridiculous!! It is unfortunate that I have to look over my shoulder every time I surf the internet. Furthermore, its a bit scary that our government is not only allowing it to happen but participating in it as well. If we as a society just stand idly by, there is no telling where this injustice will lead to!!
ReplyDeleteIt is not right for them to break our Constitutional rights to obtain advertising data. Advertising is an important part of our world, even though it is not as effective here in the US as in other places, its the key way companies show potential customs their product. The way technology is moving, who knows what could be next but with the rapid improvement in technology there will be loopholes around the cut and dry laws we have.
ReplyDelete