The Buffalo Blog

Microsoft sends online advertisers back to the drawing board

A new sideswipe from Microsoft towards Google has been reported today. Apparently the new Internet Explorer (no 8) allows users to fly below the online targeting radar using an ‘InPrivate mode’.

 

This means that targeting services using cookies simply won’t work – every time an ‘InPrivate’ user visits a website they are effectively a new and unknown entity effectively destroying any possibility of targeting relevant online adverts. 

 

While this is great for those concerned about privacy it doesn’t bode well for those interested in free and diverse web content, for example ad-funded online TV. Advertisers won’t just pee their money into the wind - if they don’t know who they’re targeting they simply won’t invest. This means less content. 

 

Where to go from here then? Personally I don’t think that many people are worried about the brands they trust knowing a bit about them. Consider the infinitely helpful suggestions you get from Amazon whenever you log on…I would never consider deleting my Amazon cookies.

 

Companies could try and encourage the use of different browsers such as the open source Firefox, but this isn’t likely to crack the problem and certainly won’t win over the privacy advocates. So the onus has to be on making online ad targeting as ‘helpful’ and non-intrusive as possible. Only by making users go ‘Oh yeah – why didn’t I think of that’ rather than ‘Oh no – how do they know I like that?!” will online ad targeting ever be truly successful.

BEBO goes to Gliese 581c to break intergalactic PR boundaries

BEBO is breaking into new markets like never before. Rather than limit itself to Europe or even the Earth, it plans to build the social networking phenomenon Gliese 581c.

In a classic PR stunt, the networking site has announced plans to send 500 messages, to the nearest planet able to support which happens to be Gliese 581c, a mere 20.5 light years away.

Whether the market conditions are right for this hubris-laden move is yet to be ascertained. However, it is hoped that the iPhone will be well-established on the planet, vastly enhancing the chances of starting one or two BEBO communities, when the messages finally get there in 2029.

To sum up a rather ridiculous post I can only say it’s nice to see the old PR tactics are still going strong in this time of change – well done to the BEBO comms team.

“Sous-veillance” turns Big Brother on his head

Silicon reports on the growth of "Sous-veillance" this morning, a growing trend (apparently) in which techno-savvy busybodies can take videos of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and bring the government into line by posting them on YouTube. In a report by the European Information Society Group (Eurim), it laid out its vision of turning ‘Big Brother’ on its head so we can collectively scrutinise those in power with our camera phones.

This is hailed by the report as a major step in increasing citizen engagement but is it actually going to work?

While the report is well intentioned, the technical nous and equipment needed for angry citizens to upload their videos could be prohibitive. The trouble is that the people who do the majority of complaining about public services, and I’m making a sweeping statement here, are likely to be precisely the ones without the knowledge to get these videos online.

It’s also unlikely that the videos are actually going to have any affect on those in power. Unless someone catches Boris Johnson graffitiing a bendy bus, or something similarly sensational, these videos aren’t going to be top of the YouTube charts so won’t be seen and definitely won’t create the required angry mobs needed to start a political movement.

The verdict? This report is well intentioned but "Sous-veillance" is unlikely to take-off unless done on a local and very specific scale.