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How the web watches you

Interesting article on BBC news

         

joshie76

2:45 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Not expecting a huge thread here but I thought some of you trackers might be interested:

[news.bbc.co.uk...]

tedster

3:59 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

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That lead paragraph bugs me — it plays to paranoia. Just the kind of irrational thought that leads the EU to consider laws that mess with cookies.

Imagine for a moment that the real world was like the web, and all the information you unwittingly share when you venture online was available to the shop assistants in every store you visited.

That ambiguous sentence makes it sound like all the shops have access to all the data.

joshie76

4:03 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I agree, it makes it all seem a bit 'big brother'

They would know which store you went into before you walked through the doors, and where you went after you left.

>>and where you went after you left.

How do they know that? I've seen pretty much everything else in serverlogs etc but never anything saying this. I can see that you might be able to catch visitors using an external link on YOUR site? but... ? Can you get this information?

idiotgirl

4:12 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

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I heard or read something that said (some) car makers were going to employ "live monitoring" that would allow salespeople to track visitors through the web sites in real time - virtually look over their shoulders - and depending on what the browser was viewing - they might engage in some kind of 'chat' and answer questions, etc. You know - you click on the car and make it green, then red, then choose a four door or two door - and Jim Bob the Car Salesman pops up a chat box and asks what kind of financing appeals to you today.

A pretty sophisticated, high ticket bit of programming.

Next best thing to being assaulted on the showroom floor.

As if car salesmen couldn't be creepy enough before.

rcjordan

4:26 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

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> I can see that you might be able to catch visitors using an external link on YOUR site?

I think that's what they're talking about. Again, it's a spin to hype the paranoia. However, after-the-visit or across-the-web tracking was part of that Doubleclick database matching plan they scrapped.

>Next best thing to being assaulted on the showroom floor.

DOA. They just don't get it, IMO. Browsing is a passive experience. The trick is to have the money page always at the ready but not crowding the visitor.

nicebloke

4:37 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



We have a live monitoring thing going on as a bit of a trial.

It's great when a punter calls up, and you can actually identify them, see them on the site, what pages they've loooked at and say "ahhh, I see you found us from blah page". Happened just now. Punter was very impressed.

idiotgirl

4:41 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Man! I'd run for the door if I thought I was being examined while I was casually surfing. Maybe I just like changing the car colors because I thought the javascript or Flash was sort of fun. Now I have to slink out as "Miss Not Gonna Buy A Car Today" when Jim Bob thinks my enthusiastic clicking meant I was in a spending mode?

That's... icky.

We'll see what the adult sites do in this area. They'll hop on that before anyone else gets their act together. They always do. Oh - you like blondes? We've noticed you clicked ten blondes in a row. Here's Misty - and she's blonde. Chat and see Misty on the web cam. Deposit $50, please.

rcjordan

4:42 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>Punter was very impressed.

Nicebloke, the punter called, so you're still passive. This rings of customer service, though I would be put off by it.

What's your opinion on the car salesman pops up a chat box and asks what kind of financing appeals to you today scenario?

nicebloke

4:45 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



>the car salesman pops up a chat box and asks what kind of financing appeals to you today scenario?

Yak!

joshie76

4:47 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>>What's your opinion on the car Salesman pops up a chat box and asks what kind
>>of financing appeals to you today scenario?

Not sure I entirely agree - people say they'd prefer not to be mithered but mithering works for the sales' guys. Like when you get stopped in the street by charity reps - you almost can't say no once you're clawed.

The thing is, on the internet and without the lack of eye contact etc I think everybody would just click "No, I don't want to talk to a rep" or close the window - unless they actually could benefit from some help and will use it opportunistically rather than seeking out the contact us section.

It could be a good idea in theory - we'll have to wait and see.

At the end of the day though - it's probably just going to look like a load of popups which everybody hates...

rcjordan

4:50 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



> people say they'd prefer not to be mithered but mithering works

And that bothers me, too.

joshie76

4:53 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>>Like when you get stopped in the street by charity reps

And if anybody else works in Victoria, London - they'll understand why it bothers you!

idiotgirl

4:55 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Popups. The kiss of death.

But can't you see it? Back to the car deal- they had also said they'd be able to grab where you lived and relay the 'monitor' person to a person in your locale. So, you go from Jim Bob in Virginia to Joe Bob in your home town - ready to drive a demo car to your house.

Or Misty if she takes a cab. And she might pick up a pizza on the way.

TallTroll

5:17 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>> the car salesman pops up a chat box and asks what kind of financing appeals to you today scenario?

On the other hand there are some areas where that is a positive advantage. Imagine you enter a web-based shop looking for "a spanner". Now, what you actually (unknowingly) need is a 3/8ths Gripley, but not being a highly techy type, you don't know that. You might spend 5 - 10 minutes looking through an increasingly bewildering selection of ever more exotic bits of kit ("Just what is a No. 3 Whitworth self-tapping nut?") before giving up, and getting a negative impression of the relevance/usefullness of that site, despite the fact they had what you wanted

BUT, if upon your arrival you were greeted by a qualified Technical Sales rep, you would have a fair chance of being able to find what you need. Those who know what they want, or are just browsing can tell him/her to disappear, but those who need the hand-holding can get it. I know there are only a few applications for that level of service, because mostly you are competent to do things on your own, but it might be nice to have the option sometimes

Many websites are holding off personalising sites to different visitors for fear of alienating customers

COOKIEEEE!!! *crunch* *gobble*

If I *want* a personalised "experience", you can be sure I'll ask for it. But if I do ask for it I want a real, live COMPETENT person to talk to

>> Or Misty if she takes a cab. And she might pick up a pizza on the way

LOL. Make mine a Meat Feast with jalapenos

ROLAND_F

5:33 pm on Jan 21, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Fun thing to do:

1- reverse engineer the Car salesman chat protocol
2- build a gateway between various chat protocol
3- Let them sale car to each other through your gateway
4- You can also publish the chat log on a webpage and let visitor
rank salesmen

F.