How to stop holiday advertisers from following you

Now that your gift giving has slowed, you’ll begin to notice a lot of “re-targeting” by advertisers that you may have visited during your online shopping. I personally was being annoyed by the frequency of ads from the same advertisers that I had visited and not purchased from.

Here is a simple way to remove yourself from behaviorally targeted ads that attempt to get you to come back and buy from them.

Note: many of the companies bury the opt out link on the page, simply scroll down and look for the OPT OUT or use your FIND function to search for it on the page.

OPEN X (click on SET OPT OUT COOKIE)
http://www.openx.com/about/privacy-policy

GOOGLE AD NETWORK
https://www.google.com/settings/ads/

ADBRITE
http://www.adbrite.com/mb/behavorial_optout.php

AD ROLL
http://www.adroll.com/about/privacy

APP NEXUS
http://www.appnexus.com/platform-policy#choices

AOL
http://advertising.aol.com/privacy/advertisingcom/opt-out

As in-feed ads appear, Facebook attempts to educate users on “how they make money” (click through for landing page)

As in-feed ads appear, Facebook attempts to educate users on “how they make money”

(click through for landing page)

Google adds winter easter egg in search results when users search for “let it snow”

Google adds winter easter egg in search results when users search for “let it snow”

Google’s Ad Rank to Consider Phone Calls, Not Just Clicks Bid-per-call coming to AdWords

Google Offers in my Gmail Wonder if they are using the same accounting methods as Groupon?

Google Offers in my Gmail

Wonder if they are using the same accounting methods as Groupon?

Google+ opens their doors to the everyone. My daily followers triple. Sounds like a good thing, but unfortunately, about 1/3 of the new followers are fake accounts being built by spammers. Looking forward to seeing how Google handles this influx of bogus accounts, which IMO will be the downfall of Twitter.

Google+ opens their doors to the everyone. My daily followers triple.

Sounds like a good thing, but unfortunately, about 1/3 of the new followers are fake accounts being built by spammers. Looking forward to seeing how Google handles this influx of bogus accounts, which IMO will be the downfall of Twitter.

How to generate a QR code and track site visitors from it Format your URL to include additional tracking parameters for your analytics platform. I use Google Analytics, so the URL looks like this:http://YOURURL.COM/SPECIFICPAGE/?utm_source=SOURCE&utm_medium=MEDIUM&utm_campaign=CAMPAIGN-ID  Test the URL by pasting it into a browser and ensure it goes where you intended Add the URL using a free online QR code generator (look for one that gives you high resolution downloadable images without watermarks or redirects, like this one) Download the QR code to your computer and snap a photo of it with your phone using a QR code reader, such as the Google Search App, to ensure that it goes where you intended.  Although there is usually a delay, you should begin seeing the visits in your analytics dashboard within a few hours. You can now drill down to the SOURCE, MEDIUM and/or CAMPAIGN level to track visitor behavior from your QR code.

How to generate a QR code and track site visitors from it

  1. Format your URL to include additional tracking parameters for your analytics platform. I use Google Analytics, so the URL looks like this:

    http://YOURURL.COM/SPECIFICPAGE/?utm_source=SOURCE&utm_medium=MEDIUM&utm_campaign=CAMPAIGN-ID
     
  2. Test the URL by pasting it into a browser and ensure it goes where you intended
  3. Add the URL using a free online QR code generator (look for one that gives you high resolution downloadable images without watermarks or redirects, like this one)
  4. Download the QR code to your computer and snap a photo of it with your phone using a QR code reader, such as the Google Search App, to ensure that it goes where you intended. 

Although there is usually a delay, you should begin seeing the visits in your analytics dashboard within a few hours. You can now drill down to the SOURCE, MEDIUM and/or CAMPAIGN level to track visitor behavior from your QR code.

.XXX Domain Update : what you need to know

The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has approved a new TLD (top level domain) being managed by ICM Registry, a Canadian company eastablished in Delaware.

XXX domains will be available for sale to the general public on December 6, 2011. Domain names using .XXX, as you can probably guess, are for use in connection with websites featuring adult content.

While the general gist of allowing Internet users to easily identify websites with adult content sounds fine and dandy, registered trademark owners need to take action to prevent the sale of their names to an unauthorized, third-party .

This can be done by filing to block .XXX domain names corresponding your trademarked terms - but the window is short. The opt-out period (called Sunrise B) for registered trademark owners began on September 7 and will end on October 28, 2011.

This “Sunrise B” period allows registered trademark owners to file an opt-out request with participating domain name registrars. The fees for this defensive registration are set by the registrar, and are currently around $200. Once granted, the Sunrise B applicant has the right to block others from using the domain for the life of the contract between ICANN and ICM Registry, which is currently 10 years. Keep in mind, this does not grant the applicant ownership of the domain itself.

  • Those that do not meet the eligibility requirements for a Sunrise B Period opt-out include pending US trademark applications, US registrations on the supplemental register, common law or unregistered trademarks and state trademark registrations.
  • The registered trademark forming the basis of the Sunrise B application must be valid as of September 1, 2011
  • Priority will be given to parties with domain names in other TLDs (.com, .net, .org) prior to February 1, 2011
  • Only a domain name that corresponds exactly with the trademark reflected in the registration may be blocked for sale

While it just doesn’t seem right to have to take action to defensively block a domain name that could harm your trademarked terms, it seems that it will be much more cost-effective for a trademark holder with mass recognition to obtain a defensive registration than to attempting to obtain or block the domain name from a third party later.

One example of a company that I have heard in this situation is Toys R Us, which could be damaged if used by an adult website.

A new venture of mine. Building intangible tools for the new world and loving what I do. More to come soon…

A new venture of mine. Building intangible tools for the new world and loving what I do.

More to come soon…

QUAL.IO

The Google+ team is rolling out profile verification badges for celebrities, public figures, and people who have been added to lots of circles. A new video by the product manager feels very personal.