This time in the Purple Box, we have Editor-in-Chief of the always outstanding geek news site Ars Technica, Kenneth Fisher. Ken joined us to help reveal the thing that nobody in the privacy/Do-Not-Track/ad blocking space wants to talk about very much. Have a listen.
You can find Ken’s editorial on advertising here.
Thanks for tuning in, and please let us know what you think in the comments below.
Passive ads are one thing. A picture with a link that ‘shows’ the product, I find that fine.
Data mining with captured data is totally another matter. Just because I look at a jewelry web site does not mean I am looking for something specific. Sometimes shopping is just shopping. Magazines know that a picture that is good, there may be a ‘shopper’ out there. The paper mag cannot capture data from the viewer like a online ad could ‘capture’ data that I did not have intention of shopping or buying. I will continue to block ads and make my own assessments on what I will shop and buy.
To be fair you should do the same thing that privacychoice and trackerblock is doing.
http://www.privacychoice.org/trackerblock/firefox
A list where you can easily block the companies without oversight, companies that are not in NAI
http://www.networkadvertising.org/
We’re working on possibly providing a list of self-regulatory-abiding players that users can “trust” if they want to by allowing the opt-out cookie to be set. Interesting idea!
Adam
Our parent company does this: http://www.evidon.com/consumers/profile_manager
A
I remember arstechinca imploring us to NOT block ads. Here’s my beef, though: many of those ads are running script on my computer. That’s computer code from a foreign server running on my box. Sorry, I’m not promiscuous. So I block scripts. If arstechnica would vet their ad servers in some way, if *they* could become the one liable for an ad which misbehaved, then I’d sing a different song. As it is: my computer, I control what scripts run.
Having said that, and this is where I am in error as a consumer, I should really subscribe to arstechnica to support them since I refuse to do that via advertising.
Totally your right to choose which scripts you want running on your computer. The thing we really liked about Ken was that he made Ars into a publication that communicated with users directly about advertising, and gave them an opportunity to explain their reservations.
I need a link to subscribe to the podcast. I do not use iTunes. Any plans for one that is compatible with other podcast managers?
How about finding another means of income? Periodicals before the internet charged for content. Someone needs to take a stand against this ideology of information being free. Knowledge is power and the internet community has gotten spoiled. The “dont block add’s” answer was from the Add producing agencies! YAY lets use this idea information should be free as a lure to get everyone to jump in on the easy advertising income scheme! Add-Blocking is hurting the add-blockers numbers and are pressuring you to get the people to unblock. I say NEVER! Charge me before I allow this external influence in my face!
This is a really good point, DeeOffero. It’s always going to be hard to change the fact that most people on the web want content free and now. Some services are revolutionizing the notion of “paying” for services on the web, such as Kickstarter, but they are few and far between. As traditional (print, TV) media slowly moves online, I’m sure we’ll see more diverse methods of payment for online content, but behemoth corporations like Hearst, Fox, and others take a long time to turn around.