Will new privacy settings kill web targeting?

In one of his recent posts, Steve Blakeman has launched a bombshell: the practice of web targeting as we know it could be doomed! The reason for this is the new privacy settings the recent generation of web browsers has. People were quick to dub them the 'porn mode' and they could be found in IE8, F/Fox 3 and Chrome; Safari has, apparently, had them since 2005.

The implications of this could be huge, yet most of the marketing community, particularly the online one, seems oblivious to this.

What does the 'porn mode' do? In a nutshell, it 'hides' a user from most of the usual ways of tracking. Our surfing history, downloads, cache - all of that could now be hidden, presenting a raft of new problems for behavioural targeting. At the moment, I haven't seen a single view on what real potential threts are, what to do about it and will this change our charging models as well - both for serving the ads and reporting the results.

Being caught unawares is not new to our industry, with the PEC opt-in rules introduced in November 2003 being the biggest example so far. It took enlightened clients to kick our *** before agencies started to adopt the new paradigm (with tables now turned, as it is mostly clients that don't get it). It would be sad if we allow the same to happen again.

So, we should lead the way in explaining to our clients how we are going to track their customers in the new 'porn mode' marketing world; what are the complexities and what we are going to do about it. Media agencies are particularly well-placed to do this.

I'm really looking forward to a lively industry debate on this.

Customer service is the original web 2.0 approach

 Information architects and usability experts can help customer service systems and reduce customer aggravation.

There is nothing more ‘web 2.0’ than customer service: it is a 2-way communication, it is usually connected to a specific customer problem which, if solved, is a chance to quickly build the customer’s goodwill, it is a great source of market intelligence and could even reduce the relative comparative disadvantage of a more expensive product.

 Call-routing functionalities, integration of telephone, email and web, self-help sections on the company (or brand) websites – all of this was supposed to raise the levels of customer service and customer satisfaction. And yet, customer service is mostly complained about.

 One of the most common reasons for this is the general reduction in numbers of customer service representatives and the quality of their training, as well as the very infrastructure that supports them. If direct human contact is replaced by a raft of mediated routes - the notorious call option menus being an all too frequent example - we are entering the territory of interface design; and if that is the case, information architecture and usability should be primary skills for designing successful customer service experiences. The problem with customer service as we know it is that it is still too ‘analog’.

 Where the web experience could help here? First of all, by devising the proper, intuitive information architecture of the customer needs. Again, listening is important: what are people calling the most for, what part of the current system are they complaining the most about, what words they use to describe their problems and needs? Trying to avoid too many menu options, companies often disregard meaningful ‘information scents’ to help customers pick the right trail. The right info scents could also reduce problems with slightly longer decision trees, as people usually don’t mind a slightly longer journey, as long as they are sure that the journey is the right one.