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Microsoft Watching What You Watch
Arkham writes "According to this Wired article, Microsoft
has contracted with a company called Predictive Networks to track the viewing habits of Microsoft TV devices. The Predictive software creates a "Digital Silhouette" that is described as being able "to tell them that Joe watches a lot of baseball, likes Situation Comedies, and
responds favorably to commercials that use humor."." I've always said
that I'm cool with my Tivo tracking what I watch, provided it never tells
anyone my name and address to anyone.
If it meant I watched more
targetted advertisements, I'd fast forward less.
...Web sites across the Internet are tracking which ad banners you see and click on by using a sophisticated "cookie" file.
This article would be "news" if we weren't already familiar with the technology, I think.
On Sky Digital TV in the UK, there are advertisments that carry an on screen reminder to 'click now' for a free sample. Clicking takes you to an advertiser's page that can then connect through your phone line to send your address details.
To step up to 'buy now' functions isn't that much of a stretch of the imagination.
I think they said it can create a 'profile' based on remote control usage, so it the remote is doing a lot of channel surfing and stops at a particular show and some ad, it can record that "user 1 likes such-and-such", then another user may only change channels between shows or whatever and records what on during that useage pattern. Kinda like analyzing how different people type to distinguish who's at the keyboard, a hunt-and-pecker or a speed typist - then they can record what content is being typed for two different users even tho they don't id by logging in, retina scan or whatever.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
You were doing fine until you gave an example. Microsoft *is* interested in knowing that you are 3.5 miles from Meijer .. they can sell that info to Starbucks who then sends you a coupon to the Starbucks 2.5 miles away. They *do* want to know that you take 20 steps from your car to your front door..they can sell that info to a canopy company who will then send a salesman over to pitch a beautiful blue canopy so that you will be protected from the rain during those 20 steps.
There isn't *anything* about you that isn't interesting to *someone* who would be willing to pay for it.
I'm sorry to be anti-anti here, but seriously, the #1 factor in business is Marketing!!!! Marketing! I mean, admit it, when ThinkGeek has something phat on the banner ad above the news, don't tell me you don't click on it...
:-(
I don't click on it.
They don't deliver the really cool stuff to the UK
That's my privacy!!! Not the fact that I work in computers.
But I want that sort of privacy, too - what I do for a living is my own damn business, I should be allowed to choose who I divulge that knowledge to. I know that marketing people are just trying to make a living, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it, just like some people here probably don't like the fact that I get paid to write closed-source software, now that they know. That dislike isn't going to stop me, and my dislike isn't going to stop the marketers, but it doesn't mean that I have to make it easier for them.
Cheers,
Tim
It's official. Most of you are morons.
M$ Maketeer#1 Joe watches a lot of baseball, likes Situation Comedies, and responds favorably to commercials that use humor.
M$ Maketeer#2 He sounds like our kind of brain-dead moron.
M$ Maketeer#1 Send him a brochure.
This would be nice to have one day. On my PDA on the way home from work.
Computer, connect to SuperFoodMart and SmartShop database. What might I need today?
"You buy corn approximately every 14 days. It has been 8 days since you last bought corn."
Hmm. Nah, I do not need to purchase corn.
"You have bought milk 4 days ago. You normally buy milk every 6 days. Milk is on sale at SmartShop today for $3.48."
Ah, indeed. I will pick up milk today so I don't need to go get some over the weekend when it might not be on sale.
They're tracking the information anyways, we might as well use it. Interconnect multiple stores and you can find the cheapest deal in town. I'm not sure how practicle this application would be in real life, it might be too inaccurate or intrusive to work effectively.
However, there's a reason why I actually like Tivo's data collection. I think Taco's dreaming a bit as far as actual targeted ads go (at least for now), but there's a more important benefit: Aggregate viewing statistics are more or less what're commonly referred to as "ratings". Ratings determine whether shows live or die. They determine how much many a network gets from a show's advertisers. This, in turn, determines how much money goes into a show's budget. It should be obvious why having my viewing habits correlate with TV studio's spending is A Good Thing.
To provide a slightly more concrete example, however, I give you "Family Guy". It's a funny show, it has a decent geek following, and it runs in a time-slot that's otherwise dominated by stupid reality TV. The network it's on, Fox, keeps playing the stupid game of repeatedly cancelling the show and then bringing it back. Apparently, they decided that last week's ratings were going to decide whether or not they cancel the show yet again. I recorded the show on my Tivo and watched it. Assuming that Fox subscribes to Tivo's viewer information, that's one more vote in the "Keep it on the air, dammit" column. Even better, given that viewer statistics are collected from a relatively small portion of the viewing public, it's a disproportionately large vote.