Further to my post yesterday about whether other webmail providers are ahead of Gmail in scanning emails to target the user with ads, it would appear that they’re not. Microsoft is unequivocal in saying Hotmail does not. A MSN spokesperson says: Microsoft is deeply committed to protecting the privacy of users’ personal communications. MSN Hotmail… Read More »
(See this later posting for a response from MSN and Yahoo.) Here’s possible evidence that Gmail is not alone in scanning your email in order to target ads at you. MarketingVOX (‘The Voice of Online Marketing’) reports that “the strange mix of privacy advocates, anti-globalists and anti-commercial groups that seem to be swarming on Google… Read More »
Plaxo, the besieged contact updating service, is pointing readers of its blog to an article that takes issue with the company’s critics. The article, written by Jim Harper of PolicyCounsel.com, takes issue with privacy concerns, especially those aired by Australian academic Roger Clarke which I’ve tried to summarise in an earlier post. Jim’s language is quite… Read More »
In response to my post yesterday, a reader suggested that with the proliferation of pop-up ad blockers in browsers and toolbars, who needs to worry anymore about ‘contextual’ ad services like WhenU? Since I installed the Google toolbar, I’ve forgotten what a pop-up looks like. Since I installed Win XP SP2, the “pop-ups blocked” counter on… Read More »
The spyware war continues. Ben Edelman, an expert on spyware, reports that “WhenU, a major provider of programs that show pop-up ads according to users’ web browsing activities, yesterday filed suit seeking that Utah’s Spyware Control Act be declared void and invalid.” WhenU effectively poaches browser real-estate by plopping its ads above those of others… Read More »