Google Behavioral Opt Out
March 17, 2009
I have avoided the contextual and behavioral ad topic. The systems and methods appear in various Google open source documents, and you should dig them out. If you want to opt out of these programs, click here and download the Google Advertising Opt Out Cookie Plug In. Keep in mind that you will need to run the script if you flush your caches. The plug in works for Firefox 1.5 and higher. You will have to read the instructions and follow them for other browsers. You can learn how to extend the Google opt out here. I have no more to offer on this topic. This is not a search topic.
Stephen Arnold, March 14, 2009
FDA: An Argument for Pervasive Monitoring
March 12, 2009
Lost amidst the noise about Apple netbooks and communication functions in Google services was this write up in Natural News: “FDA Scientists Accuse Agency of Corruption, Intimidation”. You can read the story here. When I reviewed the article, I was not concerned about who shot John. The point for me was that the information flowing into, around, and out of a US government entity seemed to be subjective to an extraordinary amount of massaging and filtering. I can understand the need for these actions in police and intelligence areas. I am a little puzzled about the same effort or lack of effort applied in areas where public health may be an issue. Read the story. Make up your own mind. My thoughts were after thinking about David Gutierrez’s write up were:
- Pervasive monitoring may make it easier to identify anomalies or unusual information activities
- A single search system would make it easier for authorized users to pinpoint topics and anomalies
- A standard for US government information objects would be helpful.
The article has a somewhat troublesome series of assertions about the agency in question. Maybe the equivalent of traffic cameras are needed to police some agencies? I don’t have a solid opinion yet. Just a concern.
Stephen Arnold, March 12, 2009
Ask.com Frames in the Picture
March 2, 2009
Frames and iframes are nifty. Over the years, their use has aroused some controversy. At one time, Google took a dim view of iframes. I have had reports that Google itself uses iframes. Other vendors have employed the technology to allow users to visit sites that are not what they seem. You navigate to another site and then discover that you are not where you want to be. Over the years, I have stumbled across patent documents that include variations of the iframe technology. Some uses are for the purpose of tracking user behavior. Others allow a Web site operator to inject content around the user’s intended destination. I lose interest in this type of cleverness, having lost my enthusiasm for tilting at windmills. There are quite a few clever and tricky folks who find ways to warp a naïf’s Internet experience.
Pandia.com, a news service that I like quite a bit, reported on some frame use at Ask.com, the also-participated Web search vendor. Ask.com for me is a good example of what happens when someone who is good at one thing tries to extend that expertise to another domain unrelated to the first. The outcome of this type of master-of-the-universe thinking is a service like Ask.com. It’s not bad; it’s not good. It’s one thing today; it will be another thing tomorrow. I recall a dinner two years ago when an azure chip consultant told me that Ask.com was on the move. I thought, “This fellow is getting paid to advise publishers about online partners?” Now Ask.com is the search engine of NASCAR. I wonder if any of the Ask.com executive team hangs out with Kentucky’s NASCAR fans? I have. I am not sure this demographic is where the action is for search.
Search Engine Roundtable followed up with its February 27, 2009, story, “Ask.com Crosses The Line: Frames Search Results.” This is a useful write up, and it includes a screenshot. For me, the most interesting comment was:
Searchers are not happy about this at WebmasterWorld. Robzilla said, “this annoys me as both a user and a webmaster, and overall just seems a little desperate.” Senior member, skipfactor, accurately points out that the search ads are not framed in.
What’s my take? Behavior that tricks users or actions that are designed to pump up revenue are part of the present culture norms. When it is a banker paying himself / herself a bonus for losing money or an insurance company refusing to honor a claim, I see behavior that makes me uncomfortable in many places. Why should anyone be surprised that online companies caught in a cash crunch would push into such murky areas. As more people use the Internet, there are more opportunities to snooker users.
The Internet is no longer something new, accessible only to scientists, engineers, and researchers. The Internet is like the Kentucky State Fair. As long as you can get on the grounds, you’re good to go. Last time I checked, the Kentucky State Fair was a mirror of the best and worst in the bluegrass state. I think it is useful to alert users of certain methods, but I don’t think most users know or care about Ask.com. Those who do may be quite happy with whatever Ask.com provides.
Stephen Arnold, March 2, 2009
Defining Social with Usage Data
February 27, 2009
Jim Zemlin’s “Facebook’s In House Sociologist Shares Stats on Users’ Social Behavior” here sheds some light on what makes Facebookers tick. As with any statistical summary, one must consider the margin of error, the sampling method, and the selectivity one brings to the presentation to data. In short, these data are not definitive, just suggestive. Nevertheless, several items bounded from the page to splash in the mine run off pond where the addled goose paddles.
First, these data substantiate what I dug out in 1999 when I poked into the behavior of engineers and scientists who used bulletin board systems. Not Facebook and Twitter grade technology, but close enough for this Web log comment. In short, in 1999 those who used the fledgling social systems did to reach a relatively small number of “friends”. What did the Facebook data suggest? The article said, “…while many people have hundreds friends on Facebook, they still only communicate with a small few. Or to quote the author of the article, “Humans may be advertising themselves more efficiently. But they still have the same small circles of intimacy as ever.” This is good news for investigatorial types because skills learned in the real world may transfer to monitoring social behaviors. Where there are clicks, there will be connections especially over time.
Second, photos are a big deal. The Facebook function that notifies a friend when a new pix is on a watched person’s page is a key driver of interaction. I am fascinated by this finding because the visual hook sets deep, lasts, and really pulls attention. I think there are some interesting ways to make use of this finding, but I am sure the trophy generation wizards are busy inventing new Facebook and Flickr services to exploit this chink in the users’ armor.
Third–and this is quite magnetizing for me–users of social networks are in “broadcast” mode. As the article said, “People who are members of online social networks are not so much ‘networking’ as they are ‘broadcasting their lives to an outer tier of acquaintances…” The idea of one way messaging–microcasting–provides some predictive worms upon which this addled goose can chew.
More Facebook data, please.
Stephen Arnold, February 27, 2009
Twitter in the Enterprise
February 17, 2009
Real time search is useful. Twitter in the enterprise is an interesting idea. If you are gung ho to marry your organization and real time information, you will want to read “Twitter Is Now a Must in the Enterprise” by Jason Meserve here. This is a three part article. Twitter can do no wrong. Twitter spam is not an issue. Twitter is not prone to crashes. These points are not in Mr. Meserve’s rah rah write up. I don’t want to dwell on the shortcomings of the article because it presents a number of useful examples and new data; for instance:
According to a Network World survey of 583 IT execs, 84% said they visit social networking sites on a regular basis, up from 68% last year. In fact, half of our respondents said they visit a social networking site at least several times a week. Only 29% said they visit social networking sites solely for entertainment purposes, and 64% said they are using social networks more than they did a year ago.
In addition, the word security is mentioned, which is unusual for most social networking articles.
Real time search is a big deal for competitive and other types of intelligence professionals. If you haven’t fiddled with Twitter search, navigate to http://search.twitter.com. The performance can be sluggish at times. Try to search for your name or the name of your employer. Try a code word. With some experimentation, you will find some interesting items.
I think it is wonderful if other people use Twitter. The spam problem is a harbinger of other network excitement as well. In some organizations, Twitter might be a bit problematic at eDiscovery time. Oh, the cheerleading will have to fit in some important words soon. I am waiting for spam, monitoring for compliance purposes, and uptime.
Stephen Arnold, February 17, 2009
Google Panoramio
February 13, 2009
I included a description of Panoramio in my Google briefings for some clients in 2008. No one in those sessions had ever heard of the service. You can check it out by navigating to www.panoramio.com. The company bought the company which had integrated photography with Google Earth. The GOOG plopped most of the Panoramio functionality into the Googleplex (my term for Google’s infrastructure). The Panoramio blog announcement is here. Panoramio has been discovered by news hounds in the datasphere. Search Engine Roundtable learned that Panoramio users can post questionable content via the service. The main story is here. The images may offend some, and we addled geese quickly pecked elsewhere. The goslings snorted and checked out Panoramio more thoroughly. Several of the more geeky goslings noted that stalkers and others of questionable repute might find this service “interesting”. If more info flaps across our field of vision, we will pass the links along.
Stephen Arnold, February 13, 2009
User Tracking Yahoo Style
February 5, 2009
Yahoo, if the news item in Web Pro News, is spot on, Yahoo is taking on an interesting challenge. “Yahoo to Start Keeping Tabs on Your Searches” by Chris Crumb documents Yahoo’s me-too of some discontinued Google features. Mr. Crumb said:
Search Pad for the Yahoo search engine. Essentially, it keeps track of your searches, figures out when you are researching things, and stores results of interest in a virtual notepad you can use for reference.
The write up provides links to additional information. The usage tracking implications are fascinating. The core of the write up is an interview with Tom Chi, Senior Director of Product Management with Yahoo Search. One of the most interesting comments was:
“This [service] follows the same data retention policy we have across Yahoo!,” explains Chi. “We recently announced a new policy. Under the new policy, Yahoo! will anonymize user log data within 90 days with limited exceptions for fraud, security and legal obligations. Yahoo! will also expand the policy to apply not only to search log data but also page views, page clicks, ad views and ad clicks.
Usage tracking yields high value data. How will the user, law enforcement, and marketing communities respond? It’s too soon to tell.
Stephen Arnold, February 5, 2009
Google and Privacy
February 3, 2009
Google has become a magnet for hassles. I don’t know if this story “Privacy Professional Facing Criminal Charges” here is taken from Moses’ tablets. But the fact that it is running points out how the once infallible Googzilla has become the a whipping boy. For me the most interesting comment in this write up was:
But the Internet is a different medium, says Google. “We cannot agree with the concept that a tool can be blamed for the use that is made of it,” a company spokesperson said.
I am not going to disagree with the Googzilla, but it seems that the malware fiasco, the propensity to blame another outfit and then fess up, and now the escalating problem in Italy signals a change.
About a year or so ago, Google’s attorneys informed me via my client that my reports about its Semantic Web activities were deep dark secrets caught me by surprise. I thought Google’s attorneys read their patent documents. My client faxed the cover pages of the sources of my information, and the USPTO patent application number was a revelation. Now one of Google’s legal eagles won’t be buying limoncello from the source for a while. Google has kept Ramanathan Guha out of the spotlight. Now the company is allowing Alon Halevy to chat up the Google’s semantic interests. Alon Halevy’s talk last week received little notice.
Google’s legal troubles in Italy did. In my opinion, it is interesting to see what constitutes news. For another “issue”, check out Google’s response to an allegation that its services assist bad guys here.
Stephen Arnold, February 3, 2009
Picking Google’s Security Boil
January 28, 2009
Johnny Doe (original name!), writing on Wiseperception.com here, takes a rough finger nail and digs into Google’s security scab. The core of the article is information gathered by an Austrian professor named Hermann Maurer. After my Google 2.0 study appeared, I received several queries from folks in Europe wanting me to provide information about Google that was negative. I refused. I read patent applications and technical papers. Not Herr Dr. Maurer. The academic is asserting that Google has data about users and can assemble those data into profiles. No kidding. The news, Herr Dr. Maurer, is old. The privacy and security boils on Googzilla’s snout are pretty obvious as well. For me the most interesting comment in this article was:
He [Herr Dr. Maurer] also speculates on the possibility of Governments paying Google for information on an opponent, or to block their citizens’ access to servers. “If Google did this they wouldn’t be doing anything illegal. They have this information, they are a company, why not sell it?” Maurer says.
Great idea. The only problem is that Google remains sufficiently disorganized that government officials have trouble getting a Googler to return their calls. My thought is that Europe is going to be a giant thorn in Googzilla’s paw with regard to privacy. Microsoft and other competitors have avoided tackling Google head on on this matter. Looks like the good Herr Doctor won’t be a shrinking violet. Herr Dr. Maurer may be the first of European Google watchers to poke Google’s security boil.
Stephen Arnold, January 28, 2009
More Social Network Issues
January 12, 2009
Social search, social networks, and social pitfalls–the cheerleaders don’t want the social bandwagon to be delayed but trouble looms. Google’s Orkut made clear the issues that can arise when a social network becomes the playground of some interesting people in Brazil. Now you can read “(Under)mining Privacy in Social Networks” here by a trio of Googlers. The Google write up identifies some obvious flaws; for example, exposing information unintentionally. But the more significant part of the paper in my opinion are the references to merging social graphs. The dataspace drum beats are getting louder.
Stephen Arnold, January 12, 2009
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