Friday, May 21, 2010

Targeted Ads Whispered into your ear?


New Google Phone Service Whispers Targeted Ads Directly Into Users' Ears


While this video is a bit outrageous.. Is the content? Will we have a choice? When I watch a Hulu video I can stand to watch 30 seconds of ads before seeing the content. But whispered targeted ads? Seems far-fetched now, but as we move towards more targeted advertisement, it might not be out of the realm of possibility.

On a different note, I recently met a man who did not own a cell phone. This was a baffling concept to me! He explained that he wanted the freedom to not be tracked down every minute of the day. Increasingly, I tend to agree. How can we limit the extent to which people know where we are and what we do?

A friend of mine's apartment was robbed recently. She had "checked-in" on Four Square at a location far away from her home. She is a blogger and thousands of people follow her "life-cast." Her apartment had been featured in many postings and was surely not difficult to track down. At some point -when the internet knows who you are and what you do - our safety becomes a concern.

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