Comments on: Apple and Cookies: Behavioral Targeting Food for Thought

By: David

David — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:16:25 +0000

But isn’t this kind of personalisation a good thing? Or is it scary that – as you suggest – Apple may have actually connected your recent visit with a visit several months ago when you registered your e-mail address. I’ve blogged on this here: http://bit.ly/xNj7j9 and would also welcome your thoughts!

By: Gordon L.

Gordon L. — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:16:03 +0000

Overall I completely agree that behavioral targeting is the next wave in online marketing. Once the technology evolves a bit more, we will see even the smallest online retailers using this tactic. Just look at Amazon. They are always sending suggestions your way based on what you’ve already viewed/bought.

However, I read a funny anecdote yesterday that is a potential downfall of behavioral targeting. A man had bought a surprise anniversary gift for his wife on Amazon. Then, through retargeting emails showing up on the couples shared Google homepage, the surprise was ruined. Obviously this could be portrayed as the consumers fault. But it is food for thought.

By: Linda Bustos

Linda Bustos — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:45:05 +0000

“Yes, it was a broader campaign. Just a coincidence that you got it just after viewing that page.”

Out of the horse’s mouth. Thank you, Justin.

Even though this is a co-incidence, I am going to leave this post up as a “futuristic” idea, but point out the co-incidence.

Bummer.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:20:49 +0000

Yes, it was a broader campaign. Just a coincidence that you got it just after viewing that page.

By: Linda Bustos

Linda Bustos — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:55:14 +0000

I felt stalked, to be honest! But also very curious to how it was technically achieved.

By: John in York

John in York — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 07:12:53 +0000

Hi Linda,

I’m just wondering how you *felt* when you thought that Apple were targeting you?

Did it feel creepy – like they were stalking you? Or did you feel flattered that they noticed you?

(Or maybe somewhere in-between)

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:36:17 +0000

I have done a lot of work with cookie-based personalization and it does work. Of the cookies that I’ve set, I typically see 25% coming back and am able to personalize the experience and have seen really great revenue gains, not to mention the overall improvement on the customer experience. I think you get a smaller portion of visitors relying on log-in based personalization and would work best with sites like Amazon or Overstock, where you see a higher percentage of people logging in to track orders. Using both methods, would obviously cover more.

By: Linda Bustos

Linda Bustos — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:22:26 +0000

Yes, it’s true that cookie deletion is that high (some users don’t even realize their cookies are being blown away, their security software does it for them). Because that’s a reality and there’s nothing you can do about it (cookie-wise), go ahead with personalization, just realize that A) it’s not going to apply to 100% of your visitors B) you can’t predict which visitors will delete the cookie and C) that your campaigns don’t rely 100% on personalization.

Or you could look at other ways of personalizing content, like Amazon uses “Sign in for Personalized Recommendations” and as long as the customer takes action while logged in, these actions can be tracked and content can be personalized.

By: Heikki

Heikki — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:38:51 +0000

Interesting, I was just reading ComScore’s report on the persistence of cookie’s – trying to figure out whether they are reliable enough for personalization.

ComScore reports that 31% of webusers delete the cookies monthly (or more often). This includes 1st and 3rd party cookies. Taking into account multiple users of the same computer; multiple browsers at the same computer; and the sam user at different computers, the cookie-personalization starts looking less-reliable. I’m wondering what’s your take on it?

By: Linda Bustos

Linda Bustos — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:09:54 +0000

I’m very surprised that this email went out to the entire list, as it was literally sent to me within hours after viewing the photo book page, not once but twice. *shrugs*

Anyone from Apple’s Email team in the house? Anyone? Bueller?