Blog #4: Microsoft's Ad-Free Search Engine

Microsoft’s Ad-Free Search Engine

I can recall a few times in middle and high school being distracted by advertisements when I would be doing research on the school’s computers. Even now I find myself becoming preoccupied searching for content from an ad when I should be doing research or homework online. To prevent this distraction, Microsoft is offering their Bing search engine without advertisements to K-12 school systems.

Microsoft introduced their Bing search engine, or Decision Engine as it is called, in June 2009. Bing’s goal is not just to provide people with information, but to help those people “accomplish tasks and make smart decisions” (Microsoft Corporation). In August, Microsoft initiated a new, free program that offers an alternative search engine created for schools K-12. 

Microsoft’s Bing for Schools program offers an ad-free search engine that is designed specifically for K-12 students, resulting in a “commerce-free zone” (Hartzer, 1). In addition to ad-free search results, the program also offers better privacy protection and strengthened filtering software. So far, only a few school systems have signed up for the program. 

The advertisers also seem to be on-board with the new program. “Advertisers that Microsoft have talked to have generally been supportive: this is net good for them, as they spend less on errant clicks from young students who are not their intended customer, and can concentrate their spend on the people who actually matter to them” (Hartzer, 1).

Have you found yourself being distracted by ads when you should be doing something else? What do you think of the Bing for Schools program? Do you think students will ultimately benefit from the program, or will they find another distraction online? Is this program really a net good for advertisers? Could you see other entities paying for this service to be free of advertisements when searching online?

Bing for Schools’ website: <http://www.bing.com/schools>

Sources:

Hartzer, Bill. “Bing for Schools: No Ads for Students.” BillHartzer. August 21, 2013. Web.  Accessed: 9/20/13. <http://www.billhartzer.com/pages/bing-for-schools-no-ads-for-students/>

Shih, Gerry. “Microsoft Offers Ad-Free Bing for the Classroom to Battle Google.”Reuters. August 21, 2013. Web. Accessed 9/22/13. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/21/net-us-microsoft-bing-education-idUSBRE97K0E620130821>

Microsoft Corporation. (2009). Microsoft’s New Search at Bing.com Helps People Make Better Decisions [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2009/may09/05-28newsearchpr.aspx. 

Internet Advertising Blog #3 The real costs of Social Networking.

Facebook. Friend or Foe?

I'm sure you remember the days when Facebook was just emerging. We all heard something about Harvard in 2004, and then it was exclusive to college students for two years. However, 2006 changed everything, in fact it was as if over night Facebook blew up, and everyone was allowed on this social networking site. As with most things, when it was first introduced to the general public, not much was known about the costs and liabilities attached to being a part of Facebook. People always seem to be worried and overly cautious on giving out their personal private information. But do you really know what your freely giving away on this network?

           

            Facebook has, time and time again, made it more difficult to actually understand what their doing with your data. Even if you did know, figuring out how to maneuver through the settings can be next to impossible.  Reading through all the security provisions and the ways to limit your personal page’s visibility can be overwhelming. From a Marketing Analytics viewpoint I find it very interesting the amount of data mining being done through sites like Facebook. Sometimes the advertisements personalized to me are even something I want to see, but the big picture is what should have you worried. Its what this is paving the way for, the ease of pulling data off of pages that most people still have a false sense of security in.

Some have just opted out of Facebook all together, others have thoroughly went through their settings to privatize their information as much as possible, but who should be most concerned? Those who have left their settings automated; assuming that it wont really hurt them after all you have nothing to hide, right? There are many ways having Facebook is more trouble than its worth, depending on the type of person you are. It is a sobering thought to realize the amount of crimes that have happened due to Facebook. There have been numerous accounts of people being victims to robberies and kidnappings based on what they have put on their Facebook through the use of pictures, postings, and locations. Also, Cops have the authority to subpoena your Facebook page; they can and have put people in jail over things posted on their account.

The most important thing is to be educating yourself on the issues concerning your own privacy on Facebook. To make your own personal decision on whether Facebook, is in fact, your friend. Have you ever unknowingly had private information displayed on your Facebook profile? What would be your limit for privacy invasions, before you deactivated your account? Do you foresee in the future another type of social networking site replacing Facebook?

Citations

Welles, Robin. "IDCloak." Facebook Privacy Issues - Who Looks At My Facebook Data?. Expats Team , n.d. Web. 16 Sep 2013. <http://www.idcloak.com/learning-center/facebook-privacy-issues-who-looks-at-my-facebook-data/a338.html>.

"Staying Private on the New Facebook." The New York Times . N.p., 02 06 2013. Web. 16 Sep 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/technology/personaltech/protecting-your-privacy-on-the-new-facebook.html?pagewanted=all&pagewanted=print>.

Internet Advertising: Blog #2- Advertising as Big Business

Internet Advertising Picking up Speed as it Heads into the Future

Internet advertising we have come to know and love, or most likely hate, was not always so in-your-face and persistent. In fact, Internet advertising started with one of the simplest forms of advertising you can imagine, spam, and on one of the first communication network systems available, Usenet in 1994. From conception to now it has become one of the most lucrative and successful business tools available. It is a tool that allows these businesses to reach out to a new consumer market and reel in potential revenue, but it has a cost of its own and one that has not gone unnoticed.

In a report by Heather Campobello, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has claimed that Internet advertising saw $31 Billion in revenue in 2011. Now of course internet advertising isn’t one corporation raking in all that money, it is split up in the market, being claimed by the people who have invested their own money to see the returns, but, the point is that in roughly 19 years it has gone from spamming Usenet to seeing $31 billion worth of traffic today and growing every year.

Campobello also states a few key factors to pay attention to as this market develops and evolves over time such as the growth of search ads (Google’s’ AdSense, Microsoft’s Bing), which holds the largest percentage of revenue, and mobile advertising, which hold the smallest. Although mobile ads were the smallest it has hit a critical level and will now be claimed as an independent piece of the “revenue pie” after seeing a 149% growth in usage over one year’s time from 2010 to 2011. Mobile advertising in 2011 only hit 5% of the total revenue stream but given the magnitude at which this market has grown, that is still roughly $1.6 billion.

We have all seen this develop from a consumer standpoint with internet advertising using banners, frame ads on websites, pop-ups/pop-unders, the time sensitive pop-ups that become transparent after a couple of seconds and so on. How much money are companies willing to focus on advertising online seeing as it is the new format for reaching consumers? Which companies will be the ones to suffer simply because they cannot keep up with rising advertising prices? The future is here as far as advertising goes, it’s a new game with new rules and new players the question is, how big can it get?

Citations:

Campobello, Heather. "IAB Report Claims Internet Advertising Brought in $31 Billi

in Revenue for the 2011 Year." WebProNews . 4 18 2012: 1. Web. 11 Sep. 2013. http://www.webpronews.com/iab-report-claims-internet-advertising-brought-in-31-billion-in-revenue-for-the-2011-year-2012-04

Blog #1: WSJ Article "Taming the Spies of Web Advertising"

Topic Article: “Taming the Spies of Web Advertising” 

Article Source: Full article and video are located here.

[Photo Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323838204579001010269117986.html#articleTabs%3Dvideo]

This article, written by John Bussey of the WSJ’s The Biz Column, discusses an important issue to consumers as internet advertising continues to make leaps and bounds in the marketing industry. Consumers’ right to privacy has become a big debate in the industry, with opinions ranging the full spectrum. More specifically, the author addresses marketing companies’ right to track consumers and collect data to more effectively target their customers and sell their products. While many consumers feel that this is an invasion of their privacy and should be regulated, internet ad agencies think that their ability to track and collect data makes them more effective advertisers, which benefits people as marketing efforts become custom tailored to match their interests as consumers. 

Bussey discusses how the industry has failed to “self-regulate”, and while the federal government seems a bit hesitant to step into the debate, Browsers such as Apple’s Safari and Mozilla Firefox are developing technology to improve what they call “cookie-blocking capabilities”. They are being encouraged by concerned consumers to put a stop to unwanted tracking and behavior-based advertising, which they feel is a violation of privacy that is not being offset by its benefits. The marketers argue that they will just find ways around it with their own developments in technology and will continue to be able to collect data against consumer wishes. 

Bussey notes that a failure to recognize the desires of the consumers they are trying to target could end poorly for the marketers, as there will be more pressure on Congress to restrict and regulate. 

What do you think? Is self-regulation an effective tool? Should the government be able to regulate how businesses collect information on consumers? Do you think it is a good idea to have marketers focus their energies on advertising only the things that you really care about, or does it make you uncomfortable to think that they know as much about you and your interests as your closest friends on Facebook?