“Come and take it… Everything is on sale!”
How often have you been sucked into this whirlwind of deceit and nonsense? Marketers bring you into the store for a sale on an item and it’s out of stock or discontinued. Did you not know that it is one of the main marketing devices? A car is advertised for a certain price in the newspaper and you run off only to discover that the actual unit advertised is a jalopy or a lemon. “It’s in the newspaper…so it must be true!” How many of you know people who live for “sale”? Every time they see something advertised on the radio, television and newspaper, they run and convince others to do the same. You think you’re getting a bargain, yes? In many cases it can be a positive thing to buy an item on sale. The item in question may be discounted from its original sale price…or offered at the seller’s purchase price. What is the reason for the negotiation? It could be that the item is taking up space for products that have just arrived and storage space is needed. The item might not be a good seller. The item could have been purchased in bulk and the seller wants to dump the excess after they have earned the desired amount of money. Whatever the reason, are you a dirty addict? Empor warning!
Is the wisdom of the crowd the ignorance of the masses? Is the Internet really such a bad thing? Marketing and advertising on the Web, in its conventional wisdom, is not such a bad thing. Connecting populations is what the Internet is: productive for the expansion of the planet and global connectivity. The Internet of this century is chaotic and unregulated. Organically Based: A borderless virtual entity that has grown based on American technology that allows the user to access vast amounts of information. An information network so large that the media are silent about the possibilities. The dark side has started with the shift to Internet search applications.
Social networks, software developers and e-commerce continuously monitor information about users and their activity. This data is used to create files in web browsers. Companies value these user profiles. They use the data to target consumers. The virtual shopping network feeds the sale by and of the products of the real world. This occupation eliminates or teaches the need for human sales and/or sales intervention. The practice replaces the supply chain, as we know it, as the entities that gave power to the “industrial revolution.” User profiles that are considered unavoidable customers become an important asset for companies with assets to market and sell. The web search function had been transformed into an essential bait and catch tool from a useful easy-to-use convenience. This isolated user profile data has become powerful assets for business owners to buy and sell on “profiling marketplaces and identity exchanges,” says Stephen Saunders of InternetEvolution.com.
Many social networks are pioneers in profiling and search spend. This practice makes it easier for similar entities to follow suit. Web companies that own servers store user information. These data silos come into play when owners decide to engage in profiling of user information, any kind of network provider data material. It’s perfectly legal for them to do so… at present.
The Internet is an entity that no one, no company or government can control.
How can users protect their privacy? Don’t use the internet! In today’s society, it is not practical. The Internet has changed into surveillance networks. Web-connected devices, “whose function is to observe users through sensors, probes, spyware and cameras, outnumber the devices users use to view Internet content,” agrees Saunders. “The internet is watching you!”
The World Wide Web (Internet) has evolved from being a user-friendliness oriented tool to a sophisticated targeting tool for businesses selling goods and/or services to the bait-and-catch system. Companies only want to market their products to consumers. The network is also used by and for the government to keep track of its citizens – law enforcement to keep track of illegal user activity.
The Net has become a place where “the user has now become the used!” Is Big Brother here to stay? Is he looking at you? No doubt… he is.
Now what’s on sale today?
Until next time…