http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/07/internet_explorer_do_not_track/

which, reading this, looks a lot like it will impact on any type of third party analytics http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2010/12/07/ie9-and-privacy-introducing-tracking-protection-v8.aspx

Which would be a monumental pain in the bottom, frankly.

If that works how I think it will it will be one massive pain in the ass.

Yes and no. I'm generally in favour of privacy protection, and also barriers. Barriers only keep out those who cannot climb them, and once you've got a handle on that, the field is a lot emptier, isn't it?

Quote from: TallTroll on December 08, 2010, 03:46:14 PM
Yes and no. I'm generally in favour of privacy protection, and also barriers. Barriers only keep out those who cannot climb them, and once you've got a handle on that, the field is a lot emptier, isn't it?

Yes. Not sure that as an agency that will be a viable approach though, to be honest....

I'm also not sure people will leave it active. Initially I think everyone will be excited by the privacy it offers. About 10 websites in I think they'll be really annoyed by approving lists of sites every time they go to a new site. By the end of day 1 I expect most to have switched it off....

Quoteit will impact on any type of third party analytics

So it will be back to log file analysis? I could live with that if this feature provides real privacy protection of any sort.

I'll bet the Mozilla, Chrome and Opera teams are all over themselves trying to be the next one to implement something like this as well.

QuoteI'll bet the Mozilla, Chrome and Opera teams are all over themselves trying to be the next one to implement something like this as well.

I think you are right bill.

While this has huge implications in the advertising and marketing space, as an individual I kinda like it.

I wonder how much the development of this was motivated by it being a feature the public wanted and how much by it being a feature that would deliver a heft kick in the knackers to Google.

Makes Microsoft looks like a good guy = win.
Makes Google look dodgy = win for MS.
Puts Google on the horns of dilemma = win for MS.

i'm not really an expert, but I think sometimes the average user gets overestimated; i see lots of people still installing all kind of unwanted applications, just because they never pay attention to the check boxes in the setups. What I mean is that the large percentage of internet users are still not that paranoid about their privacy in this aspect; unlike most of us, they are just not used to think about marketing footprints (yet...). Maybe this could have some impact in niches where the possible consumers are more techy, such as Online marketing, or Security solutions, but if you are into recipe sites, it more unlikely that your users would be aware of this option, or opt-in for it

Quote from: Brad on December 09, 2010, 01:16:52 PM
While this has huge implications in the advertising and marketing space, as an individual I kinda like it.

I agree with Brad.  Lots of log file analysis ahead.

You have to remember the standard IE user isn't exactly likely to go and set this up, they will have to go into the system and literally click do not track - and I can assure you there will be plenty of websites that simply block users with the do not track setting, making it harder for those IE users who do decide to go down this route. For now it sounds like a launch gimmick that isn't going to gain much traction. (hopefully?)

yup, Mozilla next http://firstpersoncookie.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/more-choice-and-control-over-online-tracking/

A lot of the more workable solutions seem to involve an HTTP header sent out by the browser. I guess they all just need to agree on a standard.

From an advertiser standpoint you could then check for the header and perhaps return limited content plus a message saying that they the user won't be able to see anything more unless they whitelist your site...or something along those lines.

Google just announced this one: Keep My Opt-Outs
http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2011/01/keep-your-opt-outs.html

QuoteToday we're making available Keep My Opt-Outs, which enables you to opt out permanently from ad tracking cookies. It's available as an extension for download in Chrome.

Firefox well on the way to doing the same thing:

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/10/150335249/do-not-track-web-browser-option-gains-steam

So will this kill a lot of affiliate stuff?  If my site is not allowed to cookie someone, then I lose the sale unless the person who went to the site buys on THAT visit.

I have to wonder if this, down the road will affect keyword analysis.  Will keywords used in searches to considered "private information? and try to erase them from referring urls?  Would the search companies do this to simply control all the information from marketers like us?