IMMI tracks ad exposure / effectiveness via cellphone, trips privacy alarms everywhere
Hunker down and find that tin foil cap, pronto! Privacy advocates, we've a new target for you to bang on: Integrated Media Measurement. The 4,900-person media research company is looking to take advertising measurement to a whole new level (or new low, as it were) by embedding tracking modules within cellphones. In short, the module picks up audio from ads and records information about the exposure; in the future, if you were to purchase whatever product you heard about (like seeing a movie that was plugged), it would register a hit and deem you a sucker. As of now, the only testers with these freaky phones are individuals who signed up for this stuff, but you better believe major marketing firms (and TV / movie studios in particular) are perking their ears up and begging to know more.[Image courtesy of Corbis, thanks ugotamesij]
Filed under: Culture, Multimedia, Software, Misc
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Noah @ Oct 16th 2008 12:33AM
I used to work for IMMI. Pretty interesting what they are doing.
Technical Markus @ Oct 22nd 2008 9:23AM
Hmmmm, not in itself a grounds for getting the tin foil hat on (although it still sounds a little... what's the word... surveillancey), but I'd be willing to bet any money it gets co-opted by the UK goverment, to use with their register on mobile phone owners.
Here, this explains it more eloqyently than I've managed so far:
http://www.mobileshop.com/blog/editorial-opinions/the-erosion-of-freedom-government-to-decide-who-is-allowed-mobile-phones/
Mark my words!
Mark @ Nov 7th 2008 6:39PM
Was interesting. The company has just gone out of business. They laid off everyone today and are closing down all their panels. They are essentially going into hibernation mode for a year or so until venture capital/the economy pics up again to start back up from the ashes. Too bad. It was a godo company but just another victim of the Bush economic policies.