Commentary
Among The Numerati: Tracking The Trackers
- by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, April 24, 2009
When I first heard of Business Week reporter Stephen Baker's book about the new world of data mining, "The Numerati," it seemed a must-read for anyone interested in behavioral targeting. So
imagine my surprise when the first character to pop up in Baker's book was Dave Morgan, former chair of …
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Steve Smith is Editorial Director of Events for MediaPost
"You are just a dot in the system"- Stephen Baker, 2009
"I am not a number. I am a free man" - #6, The Prisoner, 1967
Just remember, the difference between customized service via a one way telephone direction and emotional 2 way conversation that can reach more than 2 senses at the same time is a sale.
Tracking people as they take the different routes through an interactive video is an emerging variation where it isn't just what you watch that can be mined, it is how you navigate through the choices.
For me, the article's most significant phrase is in the final paragraph: "...we can start to figure you out and give you customized service". The task of mapping from 'what people do' to 'what a service provides' is one of the key challenges that we now face. Tracking provides the raw data - what we need is to understand how to interpret that knowledge and turn it into compelling services (and ads).