Forget about John Anderson wanting to escape from the Precogs in Minority Report. This is just us, humble consumers wanting to have our own privacy.
The debate is on. Facial recognition is the latest trend in digital technologies and marketers can only look at it in awe for what is expected to come. Google has already published its patent on Facial Recognition with Social Network aiding. This application will allow Smartphones to search Social Networks for matching images of the person pictured and sending back the requested name.
This will certainly ring a bell for Advertisers. It seems like Google is doing all the research work for them by creating the largest database ever. Target advertising could go a step further by connecting all this information to a face profile and interacting with consumers on the bases of that knowledge. Google AdSense (Google’s targeted online ads) has already created a major increase in websites earnings by transforming passive viewers into active shoppers (conversion rate). Target advertising has shown very positive results up until now. What will happen when ads communicate with us in a totally personalized way? Are mass marketing techniques left for oblivion?
As a last thought... imagine you go to any store,
lets say, Victoria Secret and an animation greets you with a list of your latest purchase: Bombshell, Miracolous or Super Sexy bras! That would be a little too embarrassing.
As a last thought... imagine you go to any store,
lets say, Victoria Secret and an animation greets you with a list of your latest purchase: Bombshell, Miracolous or Super Sexy bras! That would be a little too embarrassing.
You bring up a very good point regarding Google's targeted online ads. If advertising becomes even more personalized, then website earnings have the potential to sky rocket! This online facial recognition technology can facilitate this personalization. I know that some may fear this technology; however, I feel like this technology can be used in a manner that benefits both consumer and seller.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a hard debate and I want to be "for" it, because IT is a field that I have so much interest in. However, my privacy concerns won this round. If I look into the future, in the direction of where facial recognition could take us [with regards to targeted marketing], it's a fine line. To me what's disturbing is how easy it would be for individuals to be monitored and tracked, so openly and without permission. This is not a technology in which we can opt in or out of, and at this rate soon it will be embedded in our everyday lives. The minority report is a prime example of where technology could take our society not only in personal marketing, but business and more so the law.
ReplyDeleteThis scares me quite a bit, and leaves me to wonder how much is too much, and what does this mean for our privacy? I think some of this generation may be blinded by how cool and convenient technology will be, which is what we are all about. But this also makes me wonder who will be drawing the line.
You bring a very good point in this discussion. I think that when it comes to marketers and advertisers this could aid the process of search for target consumers. Thinking a little bit more ahead, having a personalized in-store experience where you don't have to look for sizes our potential trends that you might like, but that the system can already have your personal information, likes, etc. that can improve not only how the whole shopping experience but also can save time on the consumer and the retailer.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, this technology opens the question of, what if this can be access by people who don't have good intentions and want an easy way to track people down? this is a concern that I think everyone is regarding on this issue and we should keep post it to see how this progress. thanks for your post!