Some sites, for example, gave discounts based on whether or not a person was using a mobile device. A person searching for hotels from the Web browser of an iPhone or Android phone on travel sites Orbitz and CheapTickets would see discounts of as much as 50% off the list price, Orbitz said. Both sites are run by Orbitz Worldwide Inc., OWW -3.77% which in fact markets the differences as “mobile steals.” Orbitz says the deals are also available on the iPad if a person installs the Orbitz app.
In pursuit of ever more precise and valuable information about potential customers, tracking companies are redefining what it means to be anonymous…Consider Dataium LLC, the company that can track car shoppers like Mr. Morar. Dataium said that shoppers’ Web browsing is still anonymous, even though it can be tied to their names. The reason: Dataium does not give dealers click-by-click details of people’s Web surfing history but rather an analysis of their interests.
French regional daily newspaper and website La Nouvelle République has developed mobile apps that push local news and sport to readers based on their location… The Android and iPhone apps push news about the region, city and hyperlocal area the user of the app is in.
(Allstate) has launched a new effort for renter’s insurance, which will reach TV viewers who rent, rather than own, their homes. The ads, beamed on a highly targeted basis by Dish Network and DirecTV, mark the first time Allstate has used TV to advertise renter’s insurance products
Catalina… is using a shopper’s location in store aisles to refine offers. Last year, Stop & Shop’s Ahold division introduced a mobile app, now run by Catalina, that allows shoppers to scan products. When they do, Catalina identifies them through their frequent shopper number or phone number, and knows where in the store they are. Special e-coupons are created on the spot.
“If someone is in the baby aisle and they just purchased diapers… we might present to them at that point a baby formula or baby food that might be based on the age of their baby and what food the baby might be ready for.”
Using data amassed from loyalty card usage, Kroger is now offering personalized discounts in-store to give shoppers money off their favorite brands in real time. The store has begun to offer the service to its Kroger Rewards scheme customers, providing a price for certain products depending on each member’s individual shopping history… There is no need to print off and scan and the coupons in-store as the prices are automatically added to each users’ Rewards card and applied to the final bill at checkout.
The “Know Me” programme will use Google images to find pictures of passengers so that staff can approach them as they arrive at the terminal or plane. BA staff will also search individual data held by the airline, including if a regular traveller has experienced problems on previous flights, such as delays, so that crew are primed to apologise. Jo Boswell, head of customer analysis at BA, said: “We’re essentially trying to recreate the feeling of recognition you get in a favourite restaurant…”The airline is aiming to send 4,500 personal recognition messages a day by the end of the year.
Orbitz Worldwide Inc. has found that people who use Apple Inc.’s Mac computers spend as much as 30% more a night on hotels, so the online travel agency is starting to show them different, and sometimes costlier, travel options than Windows visitors
(via Do Not Track Is An Opportunity, Not a Threat | John Battelle’s Search Blog) This is a mockup — for now anyway. But speaking personally, I think it would be fair enough; albeit with the addition of a 3rd option “click to pay (eg: 2$) for a months access to ad-free version” or similar.
We don’t think of ads as punishments the users must endure, we think of ads done well as something that users would cry over if we took them away,” Horowitz said…. For example, say you review a restaurant. Google will tuck that information away and deliver it when it is relevant, perhaps six months later when one of your friends looks for a restaurant recommendation in the same area. “That’s a gift from me to that person facilitated by Google.
Google, on Tuesday, was awarded a patent for “advertising based on environmental conditions.”… So Google can now deliver targeted ads to users based on their surrounding environment. For example, the patent notes, temperature information gathered by a phone’s sensors can be used to flash ads for air conditioners (if temperatures exceed a certain thresholds), or winter coats (if the temperatures fall below a certain benchmark).
Sensor info isn’t the only environmental information Google wants to analyze with the patent. Google also wants to analyze background information:
“An audio signal that includes a voice instruction from a user of the remote device can be received, and the environmental condition can be determined based on background sounds in the audio signal,” the patent reads.
In its quest to get to know us, the internet is at the stage of the well-meaning auntie who buys you inappropriate presents at Christmas (it’s the algorithmic thought that counts). It kind of knows you, but doesn’t really know you.
our Facebook “likes” equaled our actual “selves”—creating a phenomenon that is, for governments as well as corporations, the most tempting target imaginable. This trove of information is to an ordinary census database what a super-collider is to a slingshot.
Google Real-Time Insight Finder (by GoogleBusiness)
