DIY: Opt out of cookie sniffing and data trading…and adblock plus!
There are some innovative companies out there planting cookies on a website visitors computer (read:your), then tracking their habits in an attempt to sell them relevant ads. Not the end of the world right? Personally, I use adblock plus (Minimal requirements: Firefox 2.0, Thunderbird 2.0, SeaMonkey 1.1, Flock 1.0, Songbird 0.7, eMusic Remote 1.0, Prism 0.9) so I don’t see most ads displayed online.
Regardless, these outfits are capitalizing on the rush for data in their attempt to circumvent their customers in what could be described as the polar opposite to Vendor Relationship Management (VRM).
I’ll write more on VRM later – quite an interesting initiative!
Ok so yeah, here’s how to opt out this scheme (unless you like being advertising to): http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp
h/t Seth Godin
A whole bunch of Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn)
Reid Hoffman is the founder and CEO of LinkedIn, the online social network for “business people.” He’s caught may attention lately: First it was his Wapo op-ed centered around his 2c on ending the recession. Then came his interview with Charlie Rose (posted below). Finally, and my personal favorite of late, came “my three rules for investing”.
My takeaways:
- After five minutes of a pitch, I know if I’m not going to invest, and after 30 minutes to an hour, I generally know if I will
- 3 criteria/Quality Questions:
- How will you reach the masses? How does a company rise above the noise to attract massive discovery and adoption? How do we get to one million users? Then how do we get to 10 million users? Then how will you get deep engagement by your users?
- What is your unique value proposition? I want to see innovation that is categorically distinct from existing propositions.
- Will your business be capital efficient? Your product must scale intelligently – this is why I like software. A well-coded site can adapt to mass demand without its capital expenditures scaling out of control.
- …but I firmly believe now is the time to take smart risks as entrepreneurs and investors.
- Good ideas need good strategy to realize their potential…
Reid Hoffman & Charlie Rose March 2009
