BlueKai, Inc was the focus of a heated Internet debate Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal boosted the Bellevue, Wash.-based data exchange to the top of Google trends when an article about Internet spying quoted BlueKai’s CEO . When the cookies collect data on browsing habits, the Journal article, the first in a series, says the programs are “spying on consumers”. BlueKai CEO Omar Tawakoi disagrees, saying the online industry is unfairly maligned when cookies are regarded as spying. Source for this article – BlueKai CEO disputes charge that cookies are spying on consumers by Newystype.com.
BlueKai cookies record data on browsing habits
BlueKai was founded in 2008 to exploit an online marketing niche Tawakoi calls “data exchange”. As reported by TechFlash, BlueKai packages anonymous consumer data collected by cookies it installs on leading retail, travel and automotive sites. Online auctions created by BlueKai invite bids on the data from advertisers. Online marketers bid on the BlueKai cookie data so they can zero in on customers whose browsing habits indicate they may be interested in a certain model of auto or escape destination.
Data exchange a rapidly growing industry
Each day on the data exchange, BlueKai markets 50 million unique packages outlining the browsing habits of specific customers, said the Wall Street Journal. Its series, billed as an investigation on the business of spying on Internet users, reports that data collection on consumer browsing habits has grown more intrusive than most people realize. A study conducted by the newspaper found that without warning, the nation’s top 50 web sites planted an average of 64 cookies per user. Location, income, shopping interests-even medical conditions-are recorded by the cookies. Using online data exchanges that work like the stock market, businesses such as BlueKai market the customer profiles.
CEO stands up for BlueKai cookies
BlueKai CEO Tawakoi rebutted the Journal’s argument in a post on Advertising Age. BlueKai cookies, Tawakoi said, enable companies to show individuals ads with stronger relevance at a more effective frequency. Plus, the proceeds help pay for the content. Calling cookies spying is misleading at best and detrimental to the success of an emerging industry at its worst, he said. His solution, which BlueKai already provides with an online registry, is to make the online data collection process more transparent. Customers can sign up with BlueKai’s online registry to learn exactly what is known about their browsing habits and limit what pats of that data the business can put on the market.
Further reading
TechFlash
techflash.com/seattle/2008/12/BlueKai_gets_105_million_to_help_advertisers_target_shoppers36189094.html
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575395073512989404.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575395073512989404.html?mod=googlenews_wsj%3c
Advertising Age
adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=145208″
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