The Minority Report

I’m a privacy nut. This just get’s my hackles up. I know our privacy is gone and there is nothing we can do to put that genie back in the bottle but it just doesn’t feel right.

Google has announced a new feature for its AdSense Advertising network — Interest-Based Advertising. Interest-Based Advertising, often known by its more Orwellian moniker, “behavior targeting,” gives advertisers a way to deliver ads to users who have shown interest in related items.

In short, Google plans to track your online moves and build a collection of “interests” based on which websites you visit. For example, if you start your day on the Major League Baseball homepage everyday, Google will know that you’re more likely to respond to ads for baseball paraphernalia.

Along similar lines are the “previous interaction” ads that will allow Google to show ads based on demonstrated behaviors. For example, if you put a shiny new Nikon D700 in your shopping cart, but never actually purchase it, Google will offer advertisers a way to place ads for the D700. Think of it as a way of constantly reminding you of the things you’re lusting after.
Google’s New Ad Network Knows Where You’ve Been, What You Do | Epicenter from Wired.com

Well there is nothing we can do about it really. Google is
intent
on knowing
everything in the
world so
that they can
sell adsGoogle is intent on knowing everything in the world so that they can sell ads.
Here is the Electronic Frontier Foundations take on it:

The most privacy protective solution would be to have behavioral targeting systems be based on the user’s opt-in. To no one’s surprise, Google has not gone down that road (“‘Offering advertising on an opt-in basis goes against the economic model of the Internet,’ Google spokesperson Christine Chen told the IDG News Service”), and we are not aware of any major player in online advertising that has an opt-in targeting system. Google has, however, done some things that make opt-out quite a bit better.
Google Begins Behavioral Targeting Ad Program | Electronic Frontier Foundation

At least Google worked with the EFF on some controls to help people like me opt-out of their behavior targeted advertising.

So we worked with Google to seek a new solution. Google accepted the technical challenge, and the result is the Advertising Cookie Opt-Out Plug-in, which allows users to keep their opt-out status for a particular browser even when they clear all cookies. We appreciate that Google was responsive to the opt-out cookie concerns, and especially pleased that the plug-in is available as an open source project. We look forward to it being available for Safari, Chrome and other browsers, not just IE and Firefox.

Google also introduced its Ad Preferences Manager tool. While using this tool does not stop Google from tracking users, it allows users to express preferences about what sort of advertisements will result from that tracking. We prefer to opt-out, but this is an improvement to transparency.
Google Begins Behavioral Targeting Ad Program | Electronic Frontier Foundation

The Consumerist has one other wrinkle in this mess that if you opt-out of the ads but delete your cookies, you will have to keep opting out. That’s dirty pool if you ask me but a fact of life in today’s Internet. I’m hope the plugin is better.

You can also opt out of targeted ads altogether, although these preferences will be lost if you regularly delete your cookies.
Privacy: How To Opt Out Of Google’s New Targeted Ads

I guess I should post Google’s information on this wonderful topic:

*

Interest-based advertising: How it works

Many websites, such as news sites and blogs, use Google’s AdSense program to show ads on their sites. It’s our goal to make these ads as relevant as possible for you. While we often show you ads based on the content of the page you are viewing, we also developed new technology that shows some ads based on interest categories that you might find useful.
Interest-based advertising: How it works – Google Ads Preferences

Finally, all of this does make me wonder about just exactly how safe Google Chrome is to use. I’m sure it’s relatively benign now but in the future, especially if it gains traction in the marketplace?

p.s. Just to ruin the rest of your day…The Top 10 Most Depressing Quotes from George Orwell’s 1984.