Observed

Google has smartened up. The search engine has learned to give its users an opt-out choice as a way to avoid getting too personal.

Where, exactly, is the boundary for online privacy?  It’s a line that changes almost daily – and a line that business writers would be smart to track.

A recent article in The New York Times illustrates this. The piece reports how sophisticated online e-personalization has creeped out a lot of shoppers, causing them to experience something psychologists call the uncanny valley.

Say you’re shopping for a specific brand of shoes.  You go to a few sites to look around, and before you know it, shoe ads start popping up…everywhere.  On your Gmail, on your Facebook, everywhere.

Cue the uncanny valley.  You suddenly realize that your Internet activity is being monitored, analyzed and exploited. You realize that what may resemble good, old-fashioned customer relations is really a high-tech, customized feedback loop based on your “private” keystrokes and mouse clicks.

The ads are more than just coincidence.  By tracking your browsing habits and purchase history, e-personalization companies like Monetate can learn things about you.

The Times tells the story of Urban Outfitters’ marketing director Dmitri Siegel.  Years ago, he used e-personalization to market men’s clothing to men and women’s clothing to women.  However, he was surprised when some female shoppers (who frequently buy men’s clothing) complained about the company’s gender-stereotyping.

So, limit personalization to a few broad categories.  For example, offer discounts to first-time visitors, making them more likely to buy.  Or, market winter coats to people in cold climates.

PS:  Here’s Monetate’s response to the Times article, saying that balance is the key when it comes to e-personalization.

Personalized on-line ads may LOOK real. When we realize that they’re really the result of Internet overlords stalking us, it tends to creep us out – an impulse that psychologists call the uncanny valley. Kind of like how you feel when you watch this scene from Aliens.

When I step into the room created by social media, it's incumbent for me to stick around for the conversation...particularly when I start one myself. In other words, I shouldn't shake your tree if I don't want your peaches. No?

LexBlog’s Kevin O’Keefe wasn’t the only reason going to Boston for most of this week was worth it for me.  But he was a big reason.

Kevin, Igor Ilyinsky, Deb McMurray and other law firm marketing thought leaders were presenting at the annual conference of the LMA New England Chapter.  A couple hundred marketers and vendors met to talk about this year’s topic — the interface between lawyers and technology.

When Kevin moderated a panel on social media, he reminded me of why I still resist Twitter.  It’s because I already feel overwhelmed and over-connected.  Despite the filters and other settings I can use to configure who and what I follow (and vice versa), it just seems like another case of being careful of what I ask for.

I also get what Kevin says about the risks of being technically clever and merely auto-Tweeting new blog posts.  (more…)

I can't say for sure whether Telemachus ended up thanking Mentor for showing the young man how to write better Web content or edit a video clip and upload it to YouTube. Let me know (doug@doug-stern.com), however, if anything like that appeals to you.

My business employs interns from time to time. Here’s a brief description outlining what that generally looks like.

WHERE

Experience has proven that face-to-face interaction improves just about every aspect of what an intern does, how they do it and what they get out of it.  So, at least a few hours a week ought to be spent on site, in my office.  I have wi-fi and whatever else an intern might need.

WHEN

I’m flexible.  For the sake of productivity, however, I suggest that interns expect to spend 4 to 8 hours a week either in my office or telecommuting, perhaps split between a couple days each week for however long the internship lasts.  A lot depends on what (if anything) an intern’s professor or degree program requires or recommends.

WHAT (more…)

Imagine a Web site where you could have a seamless, live chat with a customer service rep, 24/7. LiveAdmins does this. Nifty, yes?

When I write content for a site, I’m trying to make the user feel as if they were in a conversation. The sound, look and feel of the copy are meant to engage and involve the visitor.

So, it was really cool to stumble on LiveAdmins.  It’s a Web tool that offers a visitor the option to be part of a real-time conversation that supports the user’s experience while it enhances the site owner’s prospecting.

Or, as they describe themselves on their Facebook page:

We provide online customer support services through Live Chat. Our company is also proactively involved in providing exposure to our clients products through efficient Internet Marketing strategies.

There are a ton of conference calling platforms out there. Let me know if you find one better than FreeConferenceCall.com.

For those of us still doing business with the telephone, there’s a tool which seems too good to be true.  Here’s how FreeConferenceCall.com describes itself:

Free Conference Call With Free Recording Only normal domestic long distance rates are charged by the participant’s long distance carriers for the length of the call. Teleconferences can have up to 96 participants for 6 hour period of time per session. Each FreeConferenceCall account remains safe and secure and is never shared or sold. Our free conference call service provides you a great opportunity to connect to many people on a conference call. Loaded with great features, our phone conferencing service has revolutionized the way in which national and international teleconferences are organized.

In addition, you get a report via e-mail when the call has concluded, detailing who participated and the like.

I’ve used it.  It works.

Looking for a cool whiteboard?  An affordable peel-and-stick that easily goes right onto your wall?  Without an expensive, clunky frame?  One that can be removed or re-positioned?

Opti-Rite is available via myvisualdisplay.com.  This dry erase comes in rolls (minimum 6′), either 5′ or 4′ in height, and can be trimmed or left large.

Looking for a free, reliable URL redirection shortener?  Then check out Metamark.

Webspiration is a Web-based way for two or more to collaborate in real time from multiple locations.  It delivers on what it claims to do.