If you've been on the Net for more than five minutes, you've been targeted by ads. Pop-ups, drop-downs, seizure inducing banner ads, you name it, advertisers will do it. Why? Because online spending is only going to increase, and marketers want a piece of the pie.
Almondnet.com has developed a new program that will deliver advertising following users across the Web dependent on what the user has searched for recently, including (but not limited to) search queries on Google and Yahoo!. The company will come alongside ISP's to develop profiles of search activities by the people associated with that particular ISP.
For example; say you're in the mood to look for cell phones. You search for "cell phones" on Google, and if you end up at a site that has Almondnet.com ads, you will miraculously see ads for cell phones. Basically, you're getting ads targeted to your unique preferences.
However, there are some concerns that your privacy is being infringed upon. I was able to ask the founder of AlmondNet.com, Roy Shkedi, some questions about these concerns.
Interview with Roy Shkedi
How do you see Post-Search affecting search engine optimization/business site owners?
"AlmondNet’s Post-Search program will not have an impact on SEO owners. We are partnering with paid search providers who are offering Post-Search distribution as part of their paid-search offerings, so SEO owners will continue working with paid search providers as usual."
How easy will it be for people to opt out of Post Search following them around the Net, and how do you intend to address privacy issues?
"Because of the importance and value that AlmondNet attaches to consumer privacy, our solution gathers no personally-identifiable information and is based on anonymous cookies. No additional information is gained by any of the parties involved- not by the advertiser delivering the ad, not by the site where the consumer conducts the search, and not by the site the consumer visits after the conduct of their search. AlmondNet itself can only serve a Post-Search ad if it encounters a consumer that conducted a search during the subsequent 30 day period.
Third-party cookies have been a common practice in the Internet advertising market for years - used by Fortune 500 companies, ad networks, and companies that have behaviorally targeted based systems. Those companies have been using third party cookies with the confidence that cookies are not only anonymous, but that consumers can easily block them from their browsers. AlmondNet goes one step further by doing what no other company using third party cookies has ever done- enabling ad viewers to opt-out directly from ads."
Other companies such as Google will probably be wanting to try this barring any security problems. How does your patent for this process fit in with possible competitors?
"AlmondNet will be happy to have Google as a partner paid search provider. Our patent guarantees us that Post-Search ads will not be posted through any other party but through AlmondNet."
Where do you see this going in the next year?
"As people spend less than 5% of their time on search result pages and over 95% of their time anywhere else, we believe that in the future a large chunk of the paid search providers revenues will originate from Post-Search ads not to say the majority of their revenues. Therefore, we excitedly look forward to scaling our operations in the coming year."
-Roy Shkedi, CEO and founder of AlmondNet (www.almondnet.com).
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