[LINK] Personal data

stephen at melbpc.org.au stephen at melbpc.org.au
Mon Apr 5 13:50:35 AEST 2010


A little amazing. In regards to the 'personal' data that advertisers etc
collect about us with cookies, in this Age article below, Fisher ponders
who 'owns' that data collected about individuals. Notice that the person
themselves, in his thinking, doesn't get a look in .. 

(Quote) "Paul Fisher, chief executive of industry body the Interactive 
Advertising Bureau of Australia, says the ownership of data is a 'live 
issue'. Is it the advertiser that authorises the cookie [that owns the 
data] or Google that operates the advertising network, or the publisher 
whose audience they will claim is theirs, or the agency?'  He says his 
organisation is looking at drawing up guidelines to keep pace with the 
technology. (/Quote)

Hmm .. i'm sure we can be relieved his agency (IAB) is looking into it.

--
Now the Devil's in the Data 

by JULIAN LEE April 5, 2010
<http://www.theage.com.au/technology/enterprise/now-the-devils-in-the-
data-20100405-rm7a.html>


It isn't a new technique, but when Google tracks users across the web to 
sell them ads, everyone in the media takes notice.

IT DOESN'T seem to matter that other advertising networks have been doing 
it for years. When Google enters the race to own data about internet 
users everyone in the media takes notice.

Google's recent entry into ''retargeting'' has once again ignited the 
debate over who owns this valuable data about internet users and the move 
has put further stress on an already strained relationship between the 
search engine giant and online publishers and media agencies.

Last month Google announced that advertisers would be able to track 
people who had visited their websites and then serve them up relevant 
display, text or video ads as they move around the internet.

Within days of the announcement the big-four Australian media companies 
that dominate the internet independently refused to allow Google to run 
its ad-serving technology on their sites.

Fairfax Media (owner of The Age), News Limited, Yahoo7! and Ninemsn said 
they would block the data-tracking devices, or cookies, which Google uses 
to track internet users as they move around the web.

There is nothing new in the technology. Advertising networks such as 
Microsoft's Media Network and Adconion have for years been offering 
similar technology to advertisers to reconnect with individuals who have 
visited their websites.

But when Google does it the media is spooked. And fears about Google's 
intentions have not been allayed by its declaration that it does not 
intend to hoover up any additional information - such as words used in 
people's Gmail accounts, videos watched on YouTube or words entered into 
its search engine.

''There is no current association with keyword queries,'' Patrick 
Garrett, US managing director of global search agency Outrider, 
says. ''But it wouldn't be much of a stretch to see Google extending the 
program to include attributes associated with keyword queries as well.''

The technology is being tested in the US and Europe but not in Australia, 
says Google. Well, not yet, say the agencies. ''Google's multiple sites, 
logins [for its different services], products and search-dominance puts 
them in quite a position of power should they one day have a policy 
change,'' Travis Johnson, Universal McCann's managing director, says.

Google would then know what items we search for, what we are reading and 
increasingly viewing on the web, what subjects we are emailing friends 
and contacts about and what we are interested in.

Alex Littlejohn, chief executive of Adconion, says that as the 
aggregation of data becomes more commonplace on the internet the 
temptation to segment audiences by behaviour will be too great.

''To provide the stakeholders with the required comfort, the market 
really needs an independent aggregator, and I am doubtful that is 
Google,'' he says.

Google says that advertisers participating in retargeting programs will 
own the data attached to the cookies, and it ''cannot'' sell the list of 
potential targets to other advertisers.

Nevertheless, publishers - as well as the agencies that make a living 
from $1.8 billion dollar online ad industry - fear that as Google builds 
up its knowledge of the behaviour of Australian web users (or rather 
their computer browsers as individual details are never revealed), Google 
will go directly to advertisers and cut them out of the picture.

Having conquered the search advertising market Google has made no secret 
of its ambitions to grab the $450 million that advertisers spend on 
display ads online.

This has prompted the publishers to take what some would regard as 
drastic action - to bar Google's ad serving technology - although most 
publishers bar other ad networks from retargeting on their sites anyway.

Nic Cola, chief commercial officer at Fairfax Digital, says: ''The big 
question for advertisers is who owns that data and how it is going to be 
used? And what else are the Google cookies going to be used for with 
respect to targeting? At this point, we remain a cautious observer of 
this as Google generally changes the rules along the way.''

By blocking Google's ability to serve up ads to the tagged browsers that 
move on to their properties, Fairfax, Ninemsn, Yahoo7! and News Digital 
Media are in effect denying Google access to websites that record about 
44 per cent of the 4.2 billion page impressions served each month on 
Australian sites.

But if Google is bothered it is not showing it. ''We would tell them that 
remarketing is good for users, advertisers and publishers as it leads to 
more relevant and useful ads,'' Google head of corporate communications 
Lucinda Barlow says. ''And we've been pleased with the response we've 
seen from advertisers and publishers.''

The debate over data ownership is already hot. Advertisers and their 
agencies were caught last year going a step further than Google. By 
attaching a cookie to an ad served on a premium website they were able to 
identify the readers and then target ads to them as they moved on to 
cheaper sites - in effect getting high-value leads and serving them with 
cheaper ads.

The practice led to claims that unscrupulous advertisers and agencies 
were stealing audiences and prompted publishers to block such practices 
of unauthorised cookies being dropped on their websites.

Paul Fisher, chief executive of industry body the Interactive Advertising 
Bureau of Australia, says the ownership of data is a ''live issue''.

''It's an area that few are reluctant to wade into because of its 
complexity,'' he says. ''Is it the advertiser that authorises the cookie 
[that owns the date], or Google that operates the advertising network, or 
the publisher whose audience they will claim is theirs, or the agency?''

He says his organisation is looking at drawing up guidelines to keep pace 
with the technology.

''It's not just a question of ownership but also of access.''


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