Written by Mihai Dragan on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: google, Mobile, mobile advertising
Mobile is expected to be the fastest growing medium in the following years. This won’t be shocking for anyone. What is really interesting is that Google seems to be moving very fast in that direction with the Android, Google OS and recently acquiring mobile advertising company AdMob in a $450 million deal. Connect the dots.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: adsense, adwords, google, interest, interest based ads
22 minutes ago Google just announced on their blog that they have just launched a new technology that lets advertisers target potential clients better, while serving less intrusive ads to consumers, through the help of interest-based ads.
As I can see it right now it’s a way of tracking users not only on Google but on all partner websites creating a clear pattern in user behaviour and profiling.
As an advertiser I am thrilled by the possibilities but some privacy questions do arise. Google addressed them as follows [quote]:
- Transparency – We already clearly label most of the ads provided by Google on the AdSense partner network and on YouTube. You can click on the labels to get more information about how we serve ads, and the information we use to show you ads. This year we will expand the range of ad formats and publishers that display labels that provide a way to learn more and make choices about Google’s ad serving.
- Choice – We have built a tool called Ads Preferences Manager, which lets you view, delete, or add interest categories associated with your browser so that you can receive ads that are more interesting to you.
- Control – You can always opt out of the advertising cookie for the AdSense partner network here. To make sure that your opt-out decision is respected (and isn’t deleted if you clear the cookies from your browser), we have designed a plug-in for your browser that maintains your opt-out choice.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: facebook, google, perezhilton.com, traffic, twitter
Apparently yes. This AdAge article states that for some websites (including celebrity gossip blogger PerezHilton.com and some social networks like CafeMom and less known Twitter) facebook has been sending more visits than Google.
This might seem a little odd as Facebook has less than a third of Google’s traffic. An explanation might be the fact that users are less focused and tend to “click around” while socializing with friends.
Is Google loosing ground to younger web applications like Facebook or even Twitter? Sure. Are these companies threatening Google’s supremacy? Not really. But the times are ever-changing.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 ( One response )
Tags: china, free speech, google, internet, microsoft, privacy, yahoo
I can’t tell if it’s just another PR move ( I think it is ) but the giants of technology – Yahoo, Microsoft and Google – got together to sustain something called The Global Network Initiative.
The Global Network Initiative is a project sustaining free speech and the privacy of users. The companies have been under heavy fire lately after offering confidential information regarding their users’ data. It is well known the fact that Yahoo China’s actions have led to the imprisonment of some dissidents .
Let’s see what the document says: the companies will “narrowly interpret and implement government demands that compromise privacy”. Oh wow. They will act slower in turning private data to the governments.
While I am not sure this is all these companies can do I also know the subject is a bit more complicated. Take Yahoo for example. Maybe the fact that it turned over the private data has led to the imprisonment of those people. Than again we do not know how much the other Chinese internet users benefit from Yahoo simply being accessible to China (even censored).
Being born in an ex-communist country ( Romania was a communist country for over 50 years, until 1990 ) I understand how harsh the lack of information can be. The internet is China’s window to the world. If something will change there it will change slowly. With better educated people a country can evolve faster, it can change faster and China sure needs change.
Yahoo’s executives would do much more damage to the people of China by not cooperating with the communist party. Weird, huh? By depriving the country of access to worldwide news and views it would just stop millions of people from getting to understand where they stand and what can they do for themselves.
After all … it is just a choice between free speech and free thought.
