./emilychang eBot

Now, some entrepreneurs have introduced technology to solve that problem. They are equipping billboards with tiny cameras that gather details about passers-by - their gender, approximate age and how long they looked at the billboard. These details are transmitted to a central database.

Searles asks, “Why do we continue to take advertising for granted as the primary source of the the Bux DeLuxe required to fund technical, social and personal progress?”

It’s a good question.  ZDNet says its about shifting control from the sell side to the consumer “buy” side.  I have a more radical proposal.  I want to compete with advertisers for my own attention span.  Why can’t I pay the media to leave the advertising out?

Given the web is the medium, it is almost trivial for the owners of the media to publish two versions.  One would be advertising supported, but if you pay the amount your eyeballs are worth, you can have the media advertising free.  Wouldn’t that be nirvana? 

Doc Searls posted his thoughts questioning the role of advertising in the 21st century Web. He asks, “Why do we continue to take advertising for granted as the primary source of the the Bux DeLuxe required to fund technical, social and personal progress?”

Here’s how Doc thinks about nirvana scenarios:
1. No damn advertising at all. I don’t care how warm and fuzzy Google is, I don’t want to be tracked like an animal and “targeted” with anything, least of all guesswork about what I want, no matter how educated that guesswork is.
2. Tools on my phone that let me tell sellers what I want, and on my terms – and not just on theirs. Whether that’s a latte two exits up the highway, next restaurant that serves seared ahi, or where I can buy an original metal slinky.
3. I want to be able to notify the market of my shopping or buying intentions without revealing who I am, unless it’s on mutually agreed-upon terms.

I’ve been telling the PR industry for some time now that things cannot go along as they are...business as usual while mainstream media goes to hell in a hand basket. I’ve been saying this privately and publicly and having some very useful discussions on this topic.

"To view blogs and other forms of social media as a one-way selling tool is to show that the past few decades have taught us nothing about the importance of understanding our customers. Today, marketers have more tools in place than ever before to give them insight into what their customers are thinking. Blogs, Twitter, MySpace, all these forms of social media are channels that marketers can use to communicate with, and better understand their customers. As a result, their marketing will be more efficient, because they will better understand their customers’ wants and needs.

But instead, many marketers view these incredible tools not as a way to better understand their customers, but as tools to sell them more stuff.

The more technology changes, the more marketing seems to stay the same...”