Stardate 20010807.0622 (On Screen): Advertising works better if it's targeted, so that it's being seen by the people who are most interested in the product. Telescope ads will work much better in a magazine about astronomy than they would in a magazine about motorcycles. So if you're selling a given gizmo, what's the best, most focused group of potential customers you'd like to reach? How about people visiting the web site of one of your direct competitors? They're looking for your product and they're ready to buy. Double-digit click-through rates beckon.
That's what's being done now. It's done with a browser plugin. You get the plugin for free, and it does services for you. But it also monitors your browsing and when you visit certain sites it pops up an ad for you (just what you wanted). The same thing is done by secret plugins which are installed for you when you download certain freeware utilities. (They can be a bitch to find and eradicate, and sometimes they're buggy.) This article describes advertisers as being "both drawn and repelled" by this, and it's no wonder. This is the advertising equivalent of "going nuclear", and them as does this will eventually get done to. (And the potential for lawsuits should be obvious.) The only winner here will be the plugin makers, who will make out looting the dead and wounded bodies on the battlefield. (discuss)
