Ads, Spyware and Adware Directions

Ever since Google announced that they would NEVER put ads on the same page as search results (1999) and then proceeded to build the biggest business in Internet history based on doing exactly that, the world of digital ads has been something we need to look at daily with fresh perspective. Yesterday's view of the way things are or should be has no validity.

So, given the proposition that what I say here will be wrong by tomorrow, where are we today? What's important, where are the opportunities, what are consumers doing?

Let's start with the last query- what are consumers doing? Contrary to the view of Google's founders, the Trust-e compliance boys and FTC, most consumers consider advertising to be the price of great software and content. If you hear a complaint, it usually indicates that the consumer did not get enough to justify the ads! Of course noone wants software installed on their system without permission and the industry is fast moving away from that (recent FTC settlement with Zango is illustrative) and Spyware is an unacceptable invasion of privacy that is in fact, a violation of the law.

But what about adware that is installed with permission? Where the ads being served have real value based on contextual and behavioral technologies. It does not violate the law...so why does the real government (US and States) and Internet government (Google) hate it so?

The Google answer is easy- they plan to launch a business in that space and want to slow the industry movers in advance of their own initiative. And the Government....well, there are no laws against adware 'per se', just installation without permission or use of private information...but the FTC and NY Atty General's Office have both indicated that they wish they had the authority to prosecute adware providers. It's a classic case of overzealous, underemployed lawyers looking for an issue to make themselves famous without regard for consequences.

So, in today's world, adware purveyors need to be extra careful and that is no guarantee that they won't get caught in the wringer. And tomorrow? There will be adware everywhere, integrated into every application with software monitors that make certain that the value of ads displayed does not exceed the stated value of the software or content the consumer receives.

How will this be done? Intel should do it with its position as the trusted third party (the technology has been in their house since the mid-90s). But, since Intel has never seen an internet market it can time right, better to license the software to someone else, build the capability into the chips (this is what the Trusted Computer Platform initiative was supposed to do) and help this market continue to mature.

Much more on this issue to come!