ARE COOKIES CRUMBLING?

A move towards greater regulation for privacy comes as surveys in the United States and Europe show that a majority of consumers on both sides of the Atlantic are against corporations monitoring their Internet use for marketing purposes.

According to one of the first independent surveys carried out by the University of California and University of Pennsylvania, two thirds of Americans object to targeted online ads.

A proposed amendment to an EU privacy directive states that national governments should "ensure that the storing of information, or the gaining of access to information already stored, in the terminal equipment of a subscriber or user is only allowed on condition that the subscriber or user concerned has given his/her consent, having been provided with clear and comprehensive information."

The amendment, if approved, would have negative implications for the online advertising community, which relies on the placement of cookies on hard drives to enhance the relevance of online ads.

Is the US next in line for government regulation? Recent session debates at AdTech and OMMA suggest that self-regulation may not be enough to stem rising criticism against the harvesting of consumer data.

In the coming weeks, this blog will initiate a debate on platforms that may provide alternatives to government regulation. Stay tuned.

FIRE 'EM ALL !!

Nothing else needs to be said. This is one of their THREE DAY WORK WEEKS that we all pay for. I am ready to start from the beginning by voting out all elected officials and not letting any of them stay in office for more than two terms. No more lifelong healthcare, retirement, voting in their own pay raises, taking perks on our taxes, etc.


Click on the photo to enlarge for a full view

House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, pictured standing, far right, speaks while colleagues Rep. Barbara Lambert, D-Milford and Rep. Jack F. Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, play solitaire Monday night as the House convened to vote on a new budget. (AP)

The guy sitting in the row in front of these two... he's on Facebook, and the guy behind Hennessy is checking out the baseball scores.

These are the folks that could not get the budget out by Oct. 1,.... Seriously!

And these yo-yo’s will still be playing SOLITAIRE!!

With thanks for the forward of this photo to me by my reader, M. Morris.

WHAT RECESSION?

If the attendance at this week's AdTech conference at the Javits Center is an indicator of the resilience and staying power of the ad business, it's full speed ahead!

Attendance at the three day event surpassed 9300, rising to almost record levels. There was no lack of exhibitors either; over 250 of them commanding eleven full aisles packed with attendees.

The keynote address by WPP's Martin Sorrell noted a strong focus by clients on costs leading to more intensive procurement sessions. This in light of a "less worse" economy he notes that in thirty three years "I have never known more clients focused on costs".

Sixty six breakout sessions and no less than seven keynotes filled three days with a variety of content.

Both attendees and exhibitors preferred the Javits Center to a more central hotel location. The tone was positive and upbeat for a recovering economy and I saw little room for improvement ... with the exception of the boxed lunches for the full conference delegates.

No less noticeable, Casale Media and a newcomer, Elephant Traffic, were the hands down winners for promotional awareness. I was especially impressed with Elephant Traffic's use of a fleet of ten Mini Coopers to provide rides to any point in Manhattan during the event.

CHASING TAILS AT OMMA ADNETS

OMMA's AdNets conference was one event you should have elected to go to on Election Day.

A well attended event at New York's Crowne Plaza kicked off with a keynote address by OMG's Digital CEO, Matt Spiegel. Focus of Matt's address and the conference was the audience ... not the one in the room, but the one on the other side of a computer screen surfing the web.

Finding your audience requires three layers of discipline ... the trading platform, the technology on top of the platform that automates, educates and learns, and the data .... "the currency that matters". Matt's takeaway was to stop selling reach ... sell audience.

His "E-Platform" : To Evangelize, Educate, Embrace and Enjoy the Ride.

One of the livelier panels focusing on the audience chase was moderated by Mediapost's Editor-in-Chief, Joe Mandese. Challenging his panel of agency contenders, Joe charted a course to find the reality under the hype for On Demand platforms.

Are they chasing their own tails to provide similar service offerings with no point of difference? The general consensus was that they are still very early to the game with a long way to go before they have an impact as agency players.

Who are the technology players? There are many (unmentioned by the agencies) to include Invite, Turn, Collective, Media Math, and X Plus One among others that, for the most part, drive the ad agency platforms.

Yet another panel moderated by Alan Chapell, President, Chapell & Associates questioned the efficacy of trading platforms and their ability to trump effectiveness defined by engagement and results.

The jury is still out.


Joe Mandese, Mediapost

PHARMA AD SIDE EFFECTS

Like some sort of post Halloween joke I am tired of having my TV viewing interrupted by pharma ads that suggest the use of a prescribed drug may cause any number of horrific side effects and, in some cases, death.

Why am I constantly bombarded with disclaimers for drugs that only a physician can prescribe .... and would it not be his responsibility to disclose possible side effects?

The drug companies are not to blame. The Food and Drug Administration maintains oversight of required disclaimers. It's about time that the FDA review its policy to keep the public "informed" when it's the physician's responsibility to review and discuss side effects and contraindications with a patient.

If the FDA wants to police disclaimers and educate the public, it should centralize information distribution with a simple toll free number for consumer access. We would then be free from the drone of visual, audio and mouse-type magazine and newspaper disclaimers that clutter our senses.

This link from the FDA to Sanofi-Aventis is typical of the bureaucratic hoops the drug companies need to jump through to satisfy a government body that seeks to "inform and confuse" rather than focus on the problem at the physician level.

YOUR FATHER'S HALLOWEEN

How Halloween has changed over the years!

Here's a nostalgic trip back to Trick or Treating when chaperoning your kids wasn't altogether necessary.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

PIGGY BANK(ER)S

"I teach contract law at Harvard Law School, and I can't understand my own credit card. No. I'm not kidding you."

Elizabeth Warren, quoted above, serves as the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP. Shocking? You bet. And she eloquently elaborates on the greed and devious practices, albeit legal, that the financial community is lobbying to preserve.

The link to the clip here is worth watching.... Michael Moore interviews Elizabeth Warren.

If you agency happens to be among those that cater to these financial hogs, think twice. Is advertising helping or hurting? Your conscience rules.

It just might be time for this country to return to the morals in the 1946 film, It's A Wonderful Life.

YOUR DATA .... YOUR PRIVACY

Current web searches, even when anonymized, can still reveal personal information about the user.

Over a new quantum version of the Internet now being developed, search engines could return queries to users .... and with the assurance that no one has copies of the data.

A new kind of memory storage, required by quantum searches, is already being demonstrated in the laboratory.

The development of a quantum Internet is a new wake up call that will, in five to ten years, turn data providers, aggregators and behavioral marketers on their ears.

As the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room, Google stands to be most affected by these developments and will likely turn to a tiered business model that will require paid search, by the searcher, for it to remain profitable.

Free "search and surf" may continue to thrive for some time next to a paid model but it is only a matter of time before the use of the Internet will begin to mirror that of cable .... free search for those that are not concerned about privacy and paid search for those that want to maintain privacy.

It's my opinion that privacy will eventually trump free "search and surf".

How all this will affect the future of our business remains to be seen. Quantum technology requires the use of quantum computers which are yet to be developed and a new type of data storage (quantum RAM).

For a more technical overview of quantum Internet initiatives and data collection, read the article in the October 2009 edition of Scientific American.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

History always repeats itself.

Back in 1980, on the Myrtle Avenue station stop of the New York City subway, Bill Brand installed 228 hand painted panels viewed through a series of vertical slits. As the train passed through the station, the series appeared as moving art.

The piece works on the principal of a Zoetrope, a 19th century optical toy. The installation was recently restored and can be viewed from the "B" and "Q" trains from Dekalb Avenue bound for Manhattan.

Today, Out Of Home marketers are exploiting the concept for "ads in motion".

Back to September, 1909, one hundred years ago.

A New York City inventor proposed to mount a continuous band of pictures from one side of the subway station to the other and have them illuminated by lamps placed behind them. The installation never happened but the seed was planted for Bill Brand to bring it to full bloom eighty years later.

As we dash madly through our lives trying to keep up with technological advances, it's reassuring to know that we can often find our future in our past.

QUICK READ BUSINESS CARDS

Got iPhone? Here's my business card.

The QR code above provides the necessary contact information that you will need to reach me. Want to read it?

For iPhone users, a free application under the title of QR APP works perfectly to scan and translate the coded information.

To create your own QR codes visit Kaywa. The firm makes available a simple to use QR code generator ... no iPhone required for generation.

A recent CNN.com article on eight alternatives to the paper business card sparked my curiosity for the use of QR codes to exchange business contacts. While the use of the paper card will not go away anytime soon, it will be interesting to watch how alternative platforms for contact exchange will come together.

The advantage of a QR code exchange, however, opens possibilities far beyond simple contact exchange allowing for deep dives into brand related information, pricing alternatives and graphic illustration.