Targeted advertising is every marketing professionals dream, but as plans to launch Phorm, an online marketing software system, are abandoned the chances of such advertising becoming reality are increasingly more remote. According to the European commission accessing internet users’ private data breaks privacy laws and breaches online confidentiality agreements. Phorm has defended itself by claiming that the system it uses only directs relevant advertising to internet users based on the terms being searched.
This is not the first advertising strategy to cause controversy of late. Electronic advertising hoardings and bill boards that target passers by using cameras to detect gender and products with logos are being developed in Singapore. Using the information gathered the billboard then displays a relevant advert to the target consumer. The technology is reminiscent of the marketing strategies in the futuristic sci-fi film Minority Report, with the potential of consumers being greeted personally when entering a shopping centre.
Billed as being a marketing technique akin to targeted online advertising that is breaking privacy rights, the new billboards are facing opposition already. An alternative, BluScreen uses Bluetooth connections to target consumers with adverts. These adverts are less tailored to an individual, and instead ensure that the same adverts are not repeated to people who pass frequently. Each Bluetooth device has a unique signal and therefore the intelligent billboard will know what adverts have already been played. The company behind the technology says that anyone can opt out, thereby making it more likely that the billboards will get Government approval.
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