The headline chosen by the European Commission's QuickLinks blog certainly cuts to the chase: "No Adults Allowed. (Marketers Welcome)." What it links to is a timely New York Times piece about the potential unintended consequences of the age verification that state attorneys general are calling for (consequences that would not please many parents). What the headline refers to is the alleged … [Read more...] about Age verification: An attorney general’s concern
online marketing
E-coupons new in the UK
Family coupon clippers may be interested in this news. The British just got coupons - digital ones, that is. Only they're not called coupons across the pond. These are called e-vouchers. The VoucherCodes site says users can "simply enter a code into the checkout of participating [online] stores to receive an instant discount." You probably already know of some US ones: e.g., RetailMeNot.com, … [Read more...] about E-coupons new in the UK
Targeted Web ads & critical thinking
"Behavioral targeting," believe it or not, could be a great topic for family discussion. Sounds like a big, nasty sociological term, but it's really about critical thinking, or knowing how others might be trying to manipulate us. When teens are wise to that, they know how to protect themselves from manipulation. Anyway, behavioral targeting is quite likely happening to Web users at your house, and … [Read more...] about Targeted Web ads & critical thinking
Positive spin, social Web-style
Instead of "don't try this at home," this is more along the lines of "don't try this at work" - universities and other organizations trying to attract youth with videos on YouTube. It's tricky. For one thing, they kind of need to do this to counteract some of the less-than-savory images of schools being uploaded to YouTube and other video-sharing sites by the students at those schools - images of … [Read more...] about Positive spin, social Web-style