Ziff Davis Secretly Paying Sites To Track Users

First time accepted submitter jonez450 writes "Times are tough in the advertising business. But PCMag publisher Ziff Davis has come up with a new plan to gain a competitive edge: Paying other tech sites $1 CPM to place tracking code on their sites in return for data about their users via JavaScript. The company is also offering free content in return, but the 'private' Ziff Davis Tech Co-Op doesn't want anyone to know what they are up to." Update: 09/15 13:32 GMT by T : Reader jbrodkin writes in with an appreciated correction: "Ziff Davis doesn't publish PC World. they do something called PC Mag. as a former IDG employee, I can tell you there is a difference ;-)" Story has been updated to reflect -- thanks.

Re:My question is...

[tomhudson]

...where is the marketing value in tracking the demographic band that covers people too witless to block such things

We call them "politicians."

Politicians call them "voters."

The general public calls them "What are you talking about?"

The web sites call them "revenue."

The advertisers call them "warm bodies with wallets."

The regulators call them "... zzzZZZzzz ... Huh? What are you talking about? ... zzzZZZzzz ..."