Slashdot Mirror
Ads With Your Name On Them
eldavojohn writes "The NYTimes is running an interesting blog piece on the answers Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, & Google gave to the question: Can they show you an ad with your name on it? The results: 'Microsoft says it could use only a person's first name [which it doesn't consider personal information]. AOL and Yahoo could use a full name but only on their sites, not the other sites on which they place ads. Google isn't sure; it probably could, but it doesn't know the names of most of its users.' Now whether or not they would use this information is a different story. AOL has no plans to, Yahoo is open to it, and Microsoft has implemented a technological barrier preventing it (despite behavioral and demographic data being served to the ad companies). Although Google might use name information at some point, they don't now do so; nor do they use behavioral or demographic data."
Exxxxxon/Mobil gas pumps used to put your name up when you used your credit card to buy gas. Not for any reason, just because they could. I felt it was intrusive, since anybody at a neighboring pump now knows my name, but kind of a minor annoyance.
Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
Several years ago I was surfing some non-amazon related site, and there was an add at the bottom from amazon, with my name on it (presumably a amazon hosted ad that looked at my cookie information). Really freaked me out. I haven't seen anything like this for a while though.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
But the real problem isn't that they can *show* who you are, it's that they *know* who you are.
Showing it would just be disclosing our already existing vulnerability.
Well now that the EU have approved the Google / Doubleclick merger, expect ads VERY soon with your name on them ... and possibly a lot more.
A. Let's go ahead and tag it "sometimesyouwanttogowhereeverybodyknowsyourname"
B. Google certainly can show me my name in the ad. Certainly it knows which gmail account I use, and the name on that. It also knows what billing name I used for my Google Checkout purchases. Similar ways of identifying users apply to the other companies. What worries me, is seeing my name on an ad served by somebody I did NOT share my name with.
Will slashdot implement a form of this as a replacement for the CowbowNeal option?
Granted, I was very un-hopeful when that flick came out, on the one hand, Philip K. Dick, on the other three (and both legs and much of the torso) was Tom Cruise. Still the personalized ads bit was there. Funny how they offered him pink clothing.
Roflmao
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
I don't care if they have ads (that I can't see) addressing me with names that aren't mine.
I do however, care about those people who are less technologically capable, and less privacy conscious being tricked into clicking on ads because they think it is from a friend or whatever (when reading emails especially).
Just because I rarely give out my real name on the web, doesn't mean that there are people who use their real name for everything and don't mind giving it to everyone.
And that's the problem. This won't matter for most people on Slashdot, but it will matter to at least minority of people. And the people with knowledge should promote that knowledge, we should fight against this sort of thing.
(Actually, I suspect that there are a number of people who would get rather angry being addressed by their name when looking at ads. Imagine your TV saying "Hey Joe, I've got a great new beer for you to taste!" or "Hey Joe, I've got a great new computer bit", most people I know would get angry at that. Meh, now I'm starting to ramble.)
I wank in the shower.
And I've written text-based ads for Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc.
But I can't imagine anyone would want to purchase a product based on an ad with their name on it. "Hey Morley! Buy some laundry detergent!" I'd get freaked out, and I'd forever associate that creepy feeling with the product. And I'd never buy it.
I imagine most people would feel the same way. And I imagine most copywriters -- who are less like the oily marketeers you're thinking of -- would feel the same.
I say, if some oily marketeer wants to use this feature -- and it is only at most my first name -- he deserves to scare off his customers.
I imagine a crafted ad would be quite effective (although misleading). We've all gotten the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes where they call us by name and say we won. Remember back to the first time, and you can know what it would be like to have that happen online.
One time on the news site forum I frequent they did that. The news posting/headline used a little trick to display who you were logged in as. Everyone assumed that the story was actually about them. The forums were chaos until everyone figured it out, and through-out the day new people would hurriedly make a comment and then get modded 'redundant' by everyone else.
Even though it was a simple echo of your login-name and not some great technical trick, it was effective enough to give everyone a bit of a startle.
--Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
I don't think that annoying is quite the right word.
Excellent vector for phishing, perhaps. Great way to devalue a person's name; almost assuredly. Great opportunity to figure out which sites are handing over my person all information; definitely.
If this sort of thing does happen, I'm going to start using a different handle for each site that I join, and then refuse to do business with whichever sites are providing my information to the sort of sleaze that would use my personal information to address me via the net. These sorts of initiatives are creepy at best, and at worst a serious security risk.
This sort of thing is exactly why I don't allow third party cookies, and restrict most cookies to per session use only. Refuse to allow random flash ads while I'm browsing and completely ban third party scripts unless I absolutely have to, in which case I allow them on a per session basis as needed.
Really, what this all amounts to is a tremendous invasion of privacy and a lack of proper information being provided to the end users to decide what information that we're willing to hand over for access to a site.
I already am slightly unnerved when ads for dating sites and such already know where I am, and that doesn't even require a cookie generally.
Really? Most people I know just select one for free. Your friends must have more money than mine...
Tell your friends I'll sell them the same brand nicknames for 35% off retail price. I also offer an extended warranty for $29.99.
And yes, it makes a difference, these ads are HORRIBEL and anyone with a brain will know that they are ALL scams, how come there are only attractive women near you?
But the naming of your home town makes it seems more legit. It is afterall how confidence tricksters work, by finding stuff out that you somehow let them know but using it in the right way to make you believe they really know you.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Microsoft does not say that your first name is not personal information. Their policy prevents the spread of personally identifiable information, which they define as information which could be used by theirselves or others to connect data (including your first name) to you, the individual. Now, using your first name might be a little dodgy in that you might be the only person in the world with the same first name. But generally speaking, you cannot match a person to their data with only first names.
Yeah, but it seems like this is the sort of thing that won't be influenced by somebody hearing your last name in a store. I mean, if they're going through your trash, they're probably going to find some piece of mail with your last name on it.
Really?
Really?
they could be doing it now for all I know. Between adblock, flashblock, and spam filtering I don't see many ads at all. Actually with the DVR at home ads anywhere are a rarity in my life. Maybe they should advertise during the superbowl...
Sheldon
Merriam-Webster defines Paranoia as: "a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others."
Maybe give that some thought?
Our wealth breeds emptiness
Those who don't put the "k" in America.
I disagree. I'd say that the "k" in America is much more likely to be put there by someone who isn't really concerned-- or able-- to violate privacy by culling personal information. Look at their lack of data accuracy, for instance. Anyone with any sort of purpose, be it nefarious or otherwise, would at least be able to spell-check their way through "America". Do you think these type of people could even pronounce your name correctly?
Blurting names also confirms the name of a mark who conscientiously and carefully LIED to her follower about her name, only to be f*scked over by her emerging stalker.
This is why honesty is the best policy. That, or a unified and vigilant front of deception. Oh-- and avoiding wildly improbable scenarios. That too.
Information wants to be free.
Entertainment wants to be paid.
You just want to be cheap.
Yeah, but they're both dead. See where that gets you?
Information wants to be free.
Entertainment wants to be paid.
You just want to be cheap.
Speaking as (probably) the only person in the world to have my first name, I am compelled to consider it personally identifiable information.
-Tupshin
Is this you?
Tupshin Harper
Director of Engineering
San Francisco Bay Area
First hit for the first name Tupshin.
Is buying a Harley Davidson as your first motorcycle since you were 16 at age 49 a midlife crisis issue?
1 (Least Evil): Microsoft (implements tech. barriers)
2 : AOL (no barriers, no plans)
3 : Yahoo (no barriers, shows interest)
4 (Most Evil): Google (no barriers, no comment, lots of extra available data)
If we assume that companies think Evil is a negative for business, this suggests that Google and Yahoo are getting complacent, while Microsoft is working pretty hard again to woo customers and improve its market position.
There's a lot to be said for just living life without the need to have a panic attack about every possible bad thing that could (but almost certainly won't) happen to you. Getting riled up about people using my name, isn't something I feel the need to raise my blood pressure over. Good luck with your next medical.
Guess not anymore :-)
So much for privacy on the internet.. :-)
- Leon Mergen
http://www.solatis.com
I'll change all my user names to "Your Can't". That way I'll know which ads are useless.
"You Can't find everything you need at carpet warehouse!"
"You Can't find 'quadratic equation' and anything else on eBay!"
I hate those eBay ads that just take your google search input to serve in the ad. Apparently eBay will sell you entire cities.
-b
No offense, but I've stopped responding to AC's.
They know countless random topics that have popped into my head, because the first thing I do is to Google them. This has taught them all sorts of things about my personality and interests, including topics I might keep private from most everyone I know. When I go to Google News they learn about what events catch my attention. They know I still only click on a Google Ad every few months, but that hasn't stopped them from showing ads every chance they get. And of course, they've got Doubleclick now just on the off chance that I might be visiting a site they don't cover or that I might click on an ad they didn't provide.
I didn't even mention Picasa or Google Earth. And if that's not enough, just imagine what they'll know once they get a piece of the internet backbone.
No offense to the Googlebot reading this!
If you actually did have a stalker, they will find your name out pretty quickly.
Have you ever had a stalker? Do you know anyone who did? I was under the impression that non-celebrities were stalked by jilted boyfriends, ex-husbands, and such; people who already know everything they need to know about you. The deranged psycho who comes out of nowhere and targets you "just because" no doubt exists, but like terrorists, the number of people affected is much, much smaller than the number who walk around in a state of fear due to imagining they are a target.
Apologies if you actually have been stalked by an anonymous psycho.