In today's Science Daily: Many Online Social Networks Leak Personal Information To Tracking Sites, New Study Shows. Science Daily does an excellent job of explaining the technology; our usability studies show that users are acutely aware of being "tracked" in some way. This is as true of the 13-year-old "digital native" as it is of older late-adopters. If you want people to adopt your social network, you MUST declare privacy policies - particularly at interaction points such as registration fields and profile set-up forms.Kudos as always to Science Daily.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
When FREE is a lie - personal info and privacy, astrology.com
Back to my favorite (of late) whipping boy, astrology.com: This iVillage site should not assume its loyal readership will stick around. The outdated visual design now suffers even more from intrusive advertising that I close immediately (if a popup). The term FREE on "today's three special offers!" is deceptive, because as soon as you click through, you will see it -is- FREE - but you must submit personal information, which these days is worse than asking for money. How many people exit the transaction at this point? iVillage, are you looking at your stats?
Word on the street is that astrology.com is about to face some stiff (and contemporary-looking) competition. Time to review metrics, conduct usability testing, and redesign this very outdated interface. I visit regularly and it seems someone has decided to experiment with varying placement of elements on the home page.
Other problems on astrology.com: No dates on items like Tarot readings. If today's cards are the same as yesterday's, why should I trust the site?
In closing: Clicking through to the Numerology offer, which requests full name at birth and full name used today, as well as email, does not offer a visible privacy policy. Oh, and the browser window titles don't match the pages.
iVillage's success with this site is at risk.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Are publishers killing Web advertising? Yes!
Are publishers killing Web advertising? We think so. Check out this piece on how publishers are killing Web advertising by Jim Spanfeller, the outgoing president and CEO of Forbes.com
. Spanfeller argues that the industry is devaluing its own online ad presence, and we agree. "A publisher can and should price their inventory at levels that will meet the market expectations and drive their business model. What they should not do is allow some sort of invisible hand (or should I say hands) to price their inventory against a backdrop of objectives that can and often does change at a moment’s notice. This practice has fundamentally driven pricing down across the web and, perhaps more importantly, changed the success metrics from ones based on 'demand creation' to ones driven by 'demand fulfillment.' " Amen! This is what happens when you don't have a Web strategy, which means you have no ad strategy. We see this disastrous trend in too many places. How is your company addressing this issue?
. Spanfeller argues that the industry is devaluing its own online ad presence, and we agree. "A publisher can and should price their inventory at levels that will meet the market expectations and drive their business model. What they should not do is allow some sort of invisible hand (or should I say hands) to price their inventory against a backdrop of objectives that can and often does change at a moment’s notice. This practice has fundamentally driven pricing down across the web and, perhaps more importantly, changed the success metrics from ones based on 'demand creation' to ones driven by 'demand fulfillment.' " Amen! This is what happens when you don't have a Web strategy, which means you have no ad strategy. We see this disastrous trend in too many places. How is your company addressing this issue?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Blogger vs WordPress for hosted blogging - Blogger wins
Must say that Blogger had superior quick-start functionality compared to WordPress for hosted blogging. Why aren't we hosting our own blog? Because our site's under construction and the stimulus package is gummed up in the works. Here's our thumbs-up for ease of use - although something is certain to bite us in the derriere later.
ACLU app and Facebook privacy
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brings your privacy on Facebook front and center with its What Do Facebook Quizzes Know About You app. People who are concerned about privacy on social media sites often don't realize that Facebook makes no guarantees on what data those cute little apps are mining, or how it's used. Read this great article about Facebook knowing too much about you in the San Jose Mercury News.
Our Web Strategy poll on LinkedIn
Do you have a Web strategy, or is the sheer existence of your Web site the strategy? Please take our brief LinkedIn poll and tell us where your company or organization stands on this crucial topic. If you're not a member of LinkedIn, you should be!
Where's the hurricane, weather.com?
Looks like we in the Southwest wont have to worry about any pesky Cat 4 hurricam effects later this week, according to Weather.com's forecast.
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