Advertising and Security on the Semantic Web

• by Dan Bailey

So I’ve been reading about the latest pushes toward the Web 3.0 Semantic Web. Specifically for now I refer to the article recently posted on MediaPost.com: The Secret Race For Permission: Facebook Vs. Google Vs. MySpace, by Joe Marchese.

For those of us who have done our homework over the years, there’s no real surprise here. But isn’t it scary? That is, the idea that online mega media channels could own and distribute or re-appropriate our own personal indicated preferences and stories? But the potential of “Big Brother” shouldn’t blindside us anymore – we’ve been running towards him, full-throttle, for years with the ever-expanding content sharing of the Web. So have we, the collaborators, somehow decided in our collective subconscious that our desires herein outweigh the risks? In an era where Americans fear terrorism and governmental control, why do we seem to look the other way online and share, share, share (take, for example, my blog)?

A really interesting question here concerns our prefered nature for advertising. The past broadcast advertising model continues to evaporate, and smarter engines deliver more specifically targeted content to our online viewing spaces. And we’re quickly arriving upon customized advertising that we’re increasingly likely to care about. How about it? Successful sales people sell without their customers being aware that they’re being sold. Successful advertising intrigues or entertains us without bothering us. But the new, semantic ads could actually deliver to us what we are already, or soon will be, craving.

So ultimately, my question is, have we subconsciously decided that THIS is worth the security risks? And that this is the best, most natural, next evolution for advertising communications in our over-saturated world?

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Jake Aull | Marketing Strategy | Social Media & SEO | Digital & Creative
email | zenofbrand.com | @jakeaull | jakeaull.wordpress.com