Internet debate focused on a controversial practice by BlueKai, Inc. Tuesday. After BlueKai’s CEO was quoted in a Wall Street Journal piece on Internet spying, the Bellevue, Wash.-based data exchange business grew to become one of the hottest topics on the Web . When the cookies gather data on browsing habits, the Journal article, the first in a series, says the programs are “spying on consumers”. BlueKai CEO Omar Tawakoi disagrees with the Journal’s take, saying that calling cookies Internet spying is misleading and damaging to the online industry.
BlueKai cookie data targets browsing habits
BlueKai was founded in 2008 to exploit an online marketing niche Tawakoi calls “data exchange”. TechFlash reports that BlueKai cookies on leading travel, automotive and retail online websites compile anonymous consumer data. BlueKai then creates an online auction where advertisers bid on the data. Online marketers bid on the BlueKai cookie data so they can zero in on people whose browsing habits indicate they may be interested in a certain model of car or escape destination.
Data exchange online a flourishing trade
Each day on the data exchange, BlueKai markets 50 million unique packages outlining the browsing habits of specific individuals, said the Wall Street Journal. Its series, billed as an investigation on the business of spying on Internet users, reports that data collection on consumer browsing habits has grown more intrusive than most individuals realize. The newspaper conducted a study that found the nation’s top 50 sites installed an average of 64 cookies per user, typically without warning. Cookies scan what individuals are doing and assess location, income, buying interests and medical conditions. Companies such as BlueKai package and market the consumer profiles on data exchanges that work like the stock market.
CEO stands up for BlueKai cookies
BlueKai CEO Tawakoi rebutted the Journal’s argument in a post on Advertising Age. BlueKai cookies, Tawakoi said, enable promoters to show individuals ads with stronger relevance at a more effective frequency. Plus, the proceeds help pay for the content. He said a “less polarizing” discussion would be helpful and the Journal calling cookies spying is “misleading at best and damaging to the online industry at its worst “Tawakoi suggested that the Journal’s insistence on saying that cookies are spying is misleading and damages the productive growth of the online industry. Tawakoi proposes making online data collection methods more open to individuals, which BlueKai does with an online registry. BlueKai’s online registry offers to show customers what cookies get about them and lets them set preferences about what the company is allowed to use.
Discover more details on this subject
TechFlash
techflash.com/seattle/2008/12/BlueKai_gets_105_million_to_help_advertisers_target_shoppers36189094.html
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575395073512989404.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575395073512989404.html?mod=googlenews_wsj%3c
Advertising Age
adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=145208″
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