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New Ads That Watch You
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Fri Jan 30, 2009 05:39 PM
from the watching-the-watchers dept.
from the watching-the-watchers dept.
Pandanapper writes to tell us Yahoo is reporting that if you find yourself watching an ad on a video screen in a public venue, the ad may be watching you as well. "Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the viewer's gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity -- and can change the ads accordingly. That could mean razor ads for men, cosmetics ads for women and video-game ads for teens."
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Submission: You watch Ad while Ads watch you! by Anonymous Coward
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Not just in Soviet Russia (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Not just in Soviet Russia (Score:4, Funny)
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No... (Score:2)
Re:No... (Score:5, Informative)
Here's the actual article, taken from the Firehose entry:
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090130/ap_on_hi_te/tec_nosy_ads [yahoo.com]
I wish the editors didn't get so tricky with the links all the time. If they'd just plop what was posted on the front page, we wouldn't have this problem.
*wistfully remembers the days before the awfulness that is Firehose*
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Re: (Score:2)
http://thatsthejoke.ytmnd.com/ [ytmnd.com]
Soviet America aka The North American Union (Score:4, Interesting)
In the coming North American Union aka as "Soviet America" this may well
become a reality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii64ErBotvA [youtube.com] ,skip to 2:00 (1984)
"Smith? 6079 Smith W? Yes you! Bend over! You're not trying, watch me!
There Brother! That's what I want! Anyone under 45 is perfectly capable
of touching his toes, I'm 39 and I've had four children. We don't all
have the privilege of fighting in the front line, remember our boys on
the Malabar front, think of what they have to put up with."
In Britain people are already getting used to having orders barked at
them from surveillance camera operators. The 1984-style Televisor is only
one step further from that. Oh and the technology is already there too,
Apple just filed a patent that puts a camera _behind_ the screen on their
notebooks. You don't see the camera and worse you can't just tape over it
either.
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Re: (Score:2)
Salesmen (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Two years down the line, I've not had one caller interrupting my dinner, not one knocking late at night and, this is the biggest bonus in my eyes, no religious callers on a Sunday morning even thought the by-law doesn't apply to them.
One notice at the beginning of the street with the police station's number at the bo
Ha! I'll show them. (Score:5, Funny)
I'm a teenaged bearded woman, those insensitive clods!
Re:Ha! I'll show them. (Score:5, Funny)
That's nothing... I'm sitting here in front of my new Sony flatscreen with integrated AdCam, watching Dora with my toddler. We get a phone call: "Hello Sir, this is Nickelodeon. We can't quite make out the race of the little girl sitting next to you."
I patiently explain that my wife is black and so she's a mix of black and white, and what happens? Nothing but Oreo ads. Every. Single. Time.
I knew I shouldn't have paid extra for the AdCam.
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
They'll be built into TV sets and you cannot switch them off.
They can determine race by the hue of the skin.
AdMic will be included to detect accent and foreign languages.
Big Brother just got into advertising.
In Soviet Russia, you watch the TV.
In the USA, the TV watches you!
What a country, I don't love it!
Re:Ha! I'll show them. (Score:5, Funny)
so fuck em up, wear a smurf costume or paint yourself and watch TV naked.
oh hell, just do it for fun.
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Re:Ha! I'll show them. (Score:4, Funny)
Or go do something more productive than watching TV.
Oops... what am I doing here?
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Re:Ha! I'll show them. (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Put up a one-way mirror. Make sure the side that you can see through allows you to watch the screen, while the mirror side reflects the camera back on itself for an infinite loop! Whooooopie!
I'd keep that quiet, if I were you . . . (Score:2)
I'm a teenaged bearded woman, those insensitive clods!
Everyone might want one.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I've missed you on the polls, Cowboy Neal.
Re:Ha! I'll show them. (Score:5, Funny)
I'm a man, and I only pay attention to those ads targetted at women. Especially the shower gel, bikini and lingerie ones.
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Welcom Advertising Overlords (Score:5, Insightful)
That could mean razor ads for men, cosmetics ads for women and video-game ads for teens.
ads for itch powder for people scratching their crotches
and ads for weapons for people giving the sign the finger.
Re:Welcom Advertising Overlords (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Welcom Advertising Overlords (Score:5, Funny)
Does that mean that the screens will be showing porn whenever I'm in the room? Freaking SWEET!
Naw dude, that's not porn it's an ad for penile enlargement products.
with your face super-imposed from the camera!!
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Re:Welcom Advertising Overlords (Score:4, Funny)
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Cool ... the possibilities (Score:4, Funny)
Cosmetic surgery adds for ugly people
Maybe even lawyer adds if you get run over while staring at the screen
-EDM
Re:Cool ... the possibilities (Score:5, Insightful)
Diet adds for fat people
I find your faith in advertisers disturbing.
If they see fat people, they will advertise junk food, not diets because impulse sales are so much easier and lucrative.
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Re:Cool ... the possibilities (Score:5, Informative)
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Having those pop up on every billboard you walk past could really trash someone's already-fragile body image...
Condom Ads..... (Score:2)
So... (Score:3, Interesting)
Extra credit goes to the first person who gets served an NRA or Soldier of Fortune ad, if you get my drift...
Likely article the submitter was referring to (Score:5, Informative)
from the AP
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtt0GDVKp2kUEw39aEGal9yfYmjgD961JH500 [google.com]
When you watch these ads, the ads check you out
By DINESH RAMDE - 5 hours ago
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Watch an advertisement on a video screen in a mall, health club or grocery store and there's a slim -- but growing -- chance the ad is watching you too.
Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the viewer's gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity -- and can change the ads accordingly.
That could mean razor ads for men, cosmetics ads for women and video-game ads for teens.
And even if the ads don't shift based on which people are watching, the technology's ability to determine the viewers' demographics is golden for advertisers who want to know how effectively they're reaching their target audience.
While the technology remains in limited use for now, advertising industry analysts say it is finally beginning to live up to its promise. The manufacturers say their systems can accurately determine gender 85 to 90 percent of the time, while accuracy for the other measures continues to be refined.
The concept is reminiscent of the science-fiction movie "Minority Report," in which Tom Cruise's character enters a mall and finds that retinal scanners identify him and prompt personalized ads that greet him by name.
But this technology doesn't go nearly that far. It doesn't identify people individually -- it simply categorizes them by outward appearances.
So a video screen might show a motorcycle ad for a group of men, but switch to a minivan ad when women and children join them, said Vicki Rabenou, the chief measurement officer of Tampa, Fla.-based TruMedia Technologies Inc., one of the leaders in developing the technology.
"This is proactive merchandising," Rabenou said. "You're targeting people with smart ads."
Because the tracking industry is still in its infancy, there isn't yet consensus on how to refer to the technology. Some call it face reading, face counting, gaze tracking or, more generally, face-based audience measurement.
Whatever it's called, advertisers are finally ready to try it, said advertising consultant Jack Sullivan, a senior vice president of Starcom USA in Chicago. "I think you're going to see a lot of movement toward it by the end of this year in the top 10 markets," he said.
Because face tracking might feel reminiscent of Big Brother, manufacturers are racing to offer reassurances. When the systems capture an image of who's watching the screen, a computer instantly analyzes it. The systems' manufacturers insist, however, that nothing is ever stored and no identifying information is ever associated with the pictures. That makes the system less intrusive than a surveillance camera that records what it sees, the developers say.
The idea still worries Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil-liberties group in San Francisco. Tien said it's not enough to say some system is "not as bad as some other technology," and argues that cameras that study people contribute to an erosion of privacy.
In general, the tracking systems work like this: A sensor or camera in or near the screen identifies viewers' faces by picking up shapes, colors and the relative speed of movement. The concept is similar to the way consumer cameras now can automatically make sure faces are in focus.
When the ad system pinpoints a face, it compares shapes and patterns to faces that are already identified in a database as male or female. That lets the system predict the person's gender almost immediately.
"The most important features seem to be cheekbones, fullness of lips and the gap between the eyebrows," said Paolo Prandoni, chief scienti
Ethnicity difficult? (Score:2)
Go ahead... nobody else is looking (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder this might be used for nefarious purposes.
If this means... (Score:5, Insightful)
... less Tampon ad's, count me IN. As long as their not tying into credit card or purchasing history it doesn't bother me. I don't really want to have to start clearing out my real life "cookies" everytime I finish a shopping trip.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Not trying to get marked as Troll, but i SWEAR (Score:2, Informative)
This is NOT new news, and that at LEAST 2 WEEKS ago i read about this. Somewhere in the article Japan was mentioned.
And, no, i'm not referring to this even OLDER article:
http://www.multichannel.com/blog/BIT_RATE/6720-Microsoft_s_TV_Ads_That_Watch_You.php [multichannel.com]
For some reason... (Score:2)
Personal perspective here? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is marketing gone too far, but not for the reasons you're thinking. Technology is being misused here because this is profiling in a pretty mask. This very same technology is used in airports, trying to identify people's emotions, their age, ethnicity, gender, and every other physical attribute we can categorize and has at least a minimal social meaning. And although the argument for harm here is greatly diminished (I get an advertisement not meant for me versus an unsolicited gloved finger, optional lube), it's still non-zero.
As an aside, things that were unimaginable even ten years ago for surveillance are now commonplace. Did you know that every almost Target store in the United States is being fitted (or retrofitted) with Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems? In english, they tag you to your car. And in another five years or so, likely your face, credit card number, and possibly driver's license information, all together. The technology is already installed, it just needs a software update. And I should know -- I pushed those updates and worked with the guys who managed the camera installations. And before you jump on Target for this -- thousands of businesses are doing the same thing. And some of them are sharing their data, creating black lists and more. It won't be long before no matter where you go, you're being weighed, measured, and found wanting. And you were worried about black helicopters and guys in suits with no sense of humor? At least the NSA, CIA, FBI, and other three-letter acronym'd agencies have laws, rules, procedures, and professional codes of conduct to uphold. And appeals processes. Good luck getting out of Target's system... You'll still be there, long after your body has decomposed in a hole somewhere. All you geeks dreamed of an interconnected world; Everything is part of the 'net. Well, it is. And what a hell it is.
But back to the topic at hand... Even people can't guess gender, ethnicity, or age with a high degree of accuracy. A computer, by necessity, will be far worse at this. And I have a very good idea of how that's going to go over. See, my gender is difficult to tell. At the drive-thru or on the phone, I am a "ma'am". At the post office service desk, I'm usually a "sir". On the bus, I get eyes from creepy old guys and straight girls. And both lesbians and gays, amusingly enough. My life is full of delicious ambiguity. My friend's ethnicity, because of a delicate balance of traits, is taken for whatever race the person looking at her happens to be. It has led to some VERY interesting social engagements.
But as amusing as it is most of the time, it has been dangerous and frustrating at other times. I was once refused admission to an urgent care on the grounds that my medical card had the right name on it, but the wrong gender. That made for an expensive and unnecessary trip to ER. I've called my bank before and been told that I couldn't access my account (despite giving all the requisite details) -- same reason. My friend was nearly jumped for wearing "gang colors" -- a situation that my white friends have never experienced. Getting these "little" social details wrong can have severe consequences for a person.
And to bring it all home, imagine walking by one of these machines and having it spring to life, point to you and say in a loud booming voice -- "You should try our new maxi pads, miss!" if you're a guy. Or getting a "Gilette! The best a man can get!" commercial if you're a girl. Oops. The possibilities for embarrassment are endless... and you'd better believe someone's going to sue over this. And rightfully so.
Re: (Score:2)
Have you read the story by Marshall Brain called "Story of Manna".
Here's the link [marshallbrain.com]. It's as you say, but in a fiction story, buy oh soo true.
"Minority Report" strikes again (Score:5, Insightful)
While I think there were some plot holes and flaws in Spielberg's adaptation of "Minority Report", and I firmly believe he wussed out on the ending, the film has had a remarkable knack of pointing out realistic future technologies (witness how the midair-gesture-oriented UIs keep popping up). Of course, "Minority Report" had the public ads that not only recognized your gender, etc., but actually recognized you. Given advances in face and other biometric recognition systems, this part of "Minority Report" may be coming true sooner than we all think (and hope). ..bruce..
TMI? (Score:3, Interesting)
At what point does Big Business learn enough about human psychology and "psychohistory" [wikipedia.org] that it's malignant and no longer arguably neutral or benign?
News like this is a reminder that we passed that threshold some time ago.
Where is the "Opt-out" button or list for this? (Score:3, Insightful)
MEMO TO ADVERTISERS: I have TIVO. I DON'T WATCH COMMERCIALS in the first place. I have AdBlock, FlashBlock, and NoScript installed in Firefox because I DO NOT WANT your damned fucking ads in my face. I ***DO NOT WANT*** your stupid fucking targeted ads in my face in PUBLIC either, so GTFO!
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Didn't I read about this in "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson? I'm sure there are other scifi examples. Welcome to the future...
Our vending machine cameras show you were actually reading "Cosmopolitan" magazine.
By the way, taking that quiz must have given you a terrible thirst, why not have a coke?
Re: (Score:2)
Minority Report.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
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and last but not least: a link to Stallman's personal page.
Yeah. The only guy NOT selling something. Maybe he'll be a public service announcement. Richard's picture, and the caption underneath "This is your life. This is your life on x86 assembly. Any questions?" Or maybe as a pro-choice advertisement... *ducks*
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Even in Europe, if the sign is only recording the detected demographic and not storing the picture itself I honestly think it would be hard to make the case it's violating privacy because it doesn't know it's you specifically. The privacy issues arise with things like remote retinal scanning via camera which has been talked about in other Slashdot articles [citation needed - can't find spec
Re:privacy-related issues (Score:4, Informative)
Before you "invented" the tv there was no such thing as the "mass media".
Newspapers are considered "mass media", and were long before TV appeared.
By the way, TV wasn't [wikipedia.org] "invented by the USA". A lot of people from many different countries contributed.
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Re:It could be even better... (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course this will cause the advert model to crumble
The major product that advertising sells is advertising, and it does so by creating a belief in advertising's efficacy. One of the reasons why the Web is such a hard ad market is that it is so easy to measure the outcomes of ad placements via click-throughs. Now that online ad revenue is tanking expect to see more people arguing that click-throughs are a bad measure of ad performance, but I think the cat is too far out of the bag for the lying bastards... pardon me, ad execs... to recover.
The first response of ad purchasers to reactive ads of this type is to see how few people ever bother to look at what their ad is showing. The second response should be that every ad everywhere should feature a mostly naked woman and/or man, as that is all that anyone of either sex will look at.
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