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Slide 7 of 25
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Slide 7 of 25
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When the Internet first opened to commercial activity many marketers were quite optimistic about the potential of this new medium, especially because it would allow them to reach individual consumers and to interact with each person, unlike television which is a mass medium. It turned out, however, that the basic data that the Internet could provide about users was quite crude. To begin with, the Internet is a connection between computers and does not gather data about the human beings who happen to be at those computers. Basic counts like the number of times a web page is viewed is not sufficient if you can't build a demographic of the viewers.
"Cookies," that is files that are stored on a user's computer by a web site and that can identify a return visit, are also insufficient because again they identify the computer and not the person. Many computers, like those in schools and libraries, are used by a large number of people. And a return visit, while an important piece of information, still doesn't relate to the demographics that are vital to marketing like age, sex, income, interests, etc. As in other arenas, companies use various tactics to get personal data and demographic information out of consumers. Contests are a common such scheme both online and off. On the Internet, the use of "free" registrations that give the user access to additional services then link a user name or identification with online activity at that site. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is developing a standard called P3P, the Platform for Privacy Preferences. The purpose of this protocol is to facilitate the exchange of personal data for goods and services. The authors of the protocol feel that it will give Internet users better control over what personal data they release to web site owners and advertisers. It could also make the practice of exchanging personal data for access to information more widespread. |