 jdmurrayPremium
join:2001-03-02
Huntington Beach, CA
 ·DSL EXTREME
| reply to flomoKev
Re: AOL Value Per Customer This is mostly due to the marketing information that is collected from each AOL user--and I don't mean voluntary customer surveys. They data-mine terabytes worth of user activity logs each month and sell the digested results as reports to advertisers. That'd make an AOL user worth something (to Madison Avenue anyway). |
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 BradleyBad Graphics GhostPremium
join:2001-02-20
So Far Away | Surprise, surprise, surprise...! AOL is not the only "ISP" (if you could call them that!!) that is collecting mountains of marketing information "transparently". Even the world of broadband is being watched this way. Excite@home admittedly does this, with a twist. You can read about it here, scroll down to "Local Caching Servers". |
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jdmurrayPremium
join:2001-03-02
Huntington Beach, CA Reviews:
·DSL EXTREME
| Ah yes, the "Local Caching Servers" section. They store frequently accessed web content locally (i.e., on servers closer to your location) to decrease wide-range net traffic. Great if you visit a lot of web pages that don't change frequently, but not helpful if you have cnn.com as your start page (as I do).
I especially like following item in the the bullet list of caching benefits:
* Far more comprehensive usage statistics than normally
attainable on the Internet; these statistics can be used
for tuning performance, tailoring the service, and
targeting promotions and advertising.
My translation:
[CYNICISM ON]
"We're doing it to help *YOU* get more from your Internet experience!"
[CYNICISM OFF]
Therez bucks to be made from those advertisers. |
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