Slashdot Mirror
MySpace Treads Carefully With "HyperTargeting"
Ian Lamont writes "MySpace is preparing to boost its advertising systems, by launching a targeted ad platform called HyperTargeting and creating a Web-based system that lets vendors purchase ads without dealing with human sales teams. HyperTargeting will 'look at a person's interests listed on their public profile and then classify the user into particular interest-specific categories.' MySpace claims that early tests resulted in a 300 percent increase in the number of ad click-throughs. The company apparently learned a lot from Facebook's earlier experiences with Beacon — MySpace members will be able to opt out of HyperTargeting, according to the company."
It sounds like they haven't learned from Facebook. I thought the whole problem is that Facebook had an opt-out rather than opt-in system. This supposed improvement is also an opt-out system.
Well I guess if i'm going to have to look at an ad it might as well be one that i'm interested in. though i hope they don't start showing me ones that make me want to rethink who i am. thats a little too targeted
I'm so tired of these greedy companies. News Corp was already making plenty of money. http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/02/broadcast_cable_web_growth_lif.php
There is no need for them to do things like this.
So, MySpace and Facebook have both now jumped the shark. What company is it time to move to?
If done properly, this really isn't a bad thing for users. It only uses information put on your public profile. You really shouldn't have anything incriminating or overly personal on there anyway. I mean, if you're willing to share it with strangers (I assume that's what "public" means), why would it be a problem for an ad company to see it? That's not to say that there aren't nefarious uses to which this kind of thing could be put. But just from what I read in the article, there doesn't seem to be too much of a problem.
On one hand you face an improvement for the buyers and sellers for ads. On the other hand you have privacy concerns. Opt-in systems work better in theory but then why would people want more ads in the first place? Given the valuation of social networking I wonder how do people think about turning that into greenbacks?
My UID is prime is yours?
Contrary to your egocentric beliefs, nobody owes you anything.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Yeah, yeah. And you can retire from the mafia, too.
What?
So... does this mean the wanna be gangsters will now have an add for a Glock on their page? That would be terribly efficient marketing...
Myspace has very low ad rates for contextual ads, and very low quality advertisers. The typical Google AdSense ad is something like "Free MySpace Backgrounds, Profile Layouts, Smileys all in one place. Download them all for Free!"
Their banner ads tend to be from major consumer brands, and are probably more valuable than the contextual ads.
Increased click-through rate is not necessarily a win. Remember, there's that 10-15% of Internet users who produce 50% of the click-throughs, but don't buy much. (That's probably Myspace's demographic.) The advertiser problem today is to make those users go away, instead of paying Google money for their clicks.
As the metrics get better, it's becoming clearer that what's good for the advertiser is quite different from what's good for the online ad delivery service. The advertiser wants a sale; the ad service wants a click. This is starting to be a problem for Google as advertisers realize that the "Google content network" often has negative value and opt out.
Web pages have ads? That's news to me.
I just deleted my account with NewsCorp. The new adverts and _new_ cutties from match dot com make it hard to concentrate when your drunk and want to email that friend you keep in contact with using Myspace. Not even worth the variety of music anymore! IRC and Forums is what I focus on.
Whats' the matter aren't we "social" enough for you?
Its just an extension of demographic advertising, augmented with data-mining of more content based information (such as what bands you say you like).
Yahoo does the same sort of thing, and so would Google if they had more of a portal (and pretty sure they will build user models from your searches eventually - what do you think Google Toolbar's motivation is). Yahoo's is more subtle (and more insidious even) as they are tracking your page views on the Yahoo site, and building a model of you in terms of things like finance, football, blah.
MySpace's targeting is based on what YOU EXPLICITLY SAY about yourself in public. For sure, if you're profile is completely private, then perhaps they shouldn't mine your data for targeting, but frankly, its really hardly an invasion of privacy (unlike sharing your video rental/purchases would be cf Facebook). It will probably take into account groups and bands you link to.
It should result in better ads for users (assuming you are willing to assume ads for free hosting is a reasonable trade off).
Winton
Those are going to be some great ads, I bet.
"Razor blades and black hair dye, half-off!"
It'd be great if myspace could use the same technology to help their *users* find people with similar interests, instead you have to wade through a sea of groups, forums, and crappy search results. lol. I guess advertisers come first, it's a business afterall.
On another note, damn I hate context ads. Everywhere I go Google serves up "meet hot local shemales" ads, because I happen to be transgender and that's probably the most profitable keyword on my profile.... everywhere, the same damn ad. It's like Google's some sort of overbearing e-pimp who doesn't take no for an answer. Bastards.
I'm so tired of that Slashdot rant that goes: "People don't block ads if they're targeted, because it's not as annoying." Targeted ads are *far* more annoying because they pick one expensive keyword and bombard you with it everywhere you go.
I suspect Myspace will be more of the same, but stupider. [Blocked!]
Tautologies, they are what they are.
FB already allows one to target by profile items or keywords.. It does not do any form of "hyper" "meta" clustering.. but its provides pretty good targeting based on location and age.. which itself is very powerful.
No, really. I don't even remember when I did it last.
If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
Well I guess it's time to throw in some fake bullshit data lol. Who knew I was interested in knitting, wooden clog dancing, and teraforming moons. Well the ad people know now lol.
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
I haven't used MySpace in a long time, but when I did, I was annoyed at how UN-targeted their ads were. I had listed lots of Christian music and writers in my profile, but was always getting skanky ads that bordered on obscene. Adblock didn't stop all of them.
At the time, I emailed them to say that they were wasting an opportunity and hacking off their users by ignoring the very profile information they had collected when it came to displaying ads.
I don't think privacy is as big a deal here as in say, Google searches. After all, you've already knowingly posted your profile information; what's the harm in them using it to give you ads you won't hate (as much)?
Aye, then we'll monetize ya. Savvy?
I would like to target my ads to the OPT OUT market please.
thank you
The biggest problem with Facebook Beacon isn't the opt-out (though that is indeed a problem). The problems with it are:
1. It broadcasts users' purchases to Facebook, which then broadcasts them to other users.
2. Facebook gets paid to coopt their users' identities to promote their commercial partners' products. This is really the nastiest one, if you ask me.
3. According to the lawsuit recently filed against Blockbuster and Facebook, it continues to unlawfully share information about users who have opted out.
I don't think that MySpace using information volunteered by its users to target ads to them is unlawful at all.
Are you adequate?
Why is it that people who upload reams of photos to social networks and gigs of videos to public video sites expect that it should all be for free and get all bent out of shape when the owners of the site sell advertising geared specifically for the people who use the site? Why is it they start yelling about privacy and security after just telling half the world all their personal details and displaying all of their embarassing moments on video? People don't create websites to lose money. Every cool idea for a website has behind it the desire to make money. Let's say for example you create a website to attract geeks, we'll call it slashdot ;) Now what kind of ads are going to be most effective? Products to improve your sex life? Geeks don't have sex lives. No, you sell things that geeks like. So targeting ads is good for advertisers, it's good for site owners, and it's good for the site visitors, who are most likely to be interested in those kinds of products. No one else is going to see the same ads you see. So there's no need to get embarassed if every site you visit knows you need viagra.
I recently opted out of advertising from MySpace...I closed my account.
Ads for HP Lovecraft-related stuff: check, I have references to HPL on my profile. Ads for heavy metal stuff: check, tons of metal stuff. Ads for "computery" stuff: check, I have references to computer-nerd stuff on my profile. Ads for meeting fellow gays: WTF? Nothing on my profile about being a drama nerd, or wearing womens' clothing, or pressing wild flowers. Is it because I'm a fan of Rob Halford? Is it because I don't ever become friends with any of the hot webcam babes?
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Pied Piper of the Internet youth.
An exodus from there could only be a positive thing.
I left MySpace after just a month using it. It sucked, period. I can guarantee that since MySpace ALWAYS leaves the door WIDE OPEN for auto register programs and spammers, all a company distributing malware or pr0n with malware in it have to do is automatically generate new accounts for this service. A computer would never pick that up, especially a computer run by the people with the WORST SECURITY EVER!
Win++ OTOH, +++ATH0 Not so smartmodem now, are we? 1992 might not be far enough ;)
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