Virgin Mobile’s YouTube page can—if you let it—use your webcam to tell when you blink and change the ads each time you do so. It’s creepy, but kinda cool.
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Google’s coasting on the wave of cyber anxiety following the NSA leaks with some new encryption features. From now on everything you put on Cloud Storage will be automatically encrypted on Google servers. Which raises the question: Why isn’t everything encrypted on Google servers?
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It’s bad enough seeing ads all over YouTube, but some shifty malware has been making things even worse. A couple of YouTube-downloader apps have been sliding in a bunch of unauthorized ads and selling them to big brands like Amazon, Blackberry, Kellogg’s and Toyota. So if you’ve been trying to snag some free YouTube vids, you might still be paying for them.
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Many have grown comfortable with the targeted ads that populate the modern web and expect companies to keep track of their online activity, but UK firm Renew took things one step further earlier this summer. It began tracking real world traffic on the streets of London by recording the MAC addresses of the phones that passed by some of the many public recycling bins it operates in the city.” Today, however, the City of London Corporation demanded that the tracking stop while a determination is made by the Information Commissioner’s Office whether the technology complies with the UK’s Data Protection Act.
The bins themselves are equipped with WiFi and screens that display a rotating series of ads, and this summer, a dozen of those bins began to record the MAC address of any nearby phones with WiFi turned on. Doing so allows Renew to determine repeat passers-by, how quickly pedestrians are moving so that ads displayed on the bins can be better targeted to the surrounds foot traffic. However, owners of those phones were not notified that their handset’s MAC addresses were recorded. For its part, Renew explained in a blog post that the tracking was done on a trial basis and MAC addresses were anonymized and aggregated so that personal information was not recorded. Quartz reports that during the first month of tracking, over one million unique devices were recorded, however, and that over 100,000 phones were identified during the trial’s busiest day. What say you, dear readers: want trash cans tracking the surrounding foot traffic in the name of serving you ads targeted to your tastes?
Via: The Telegraph
Source: Quartz
Remember Beardvertising, where people could pin ads on their beards so they can be walking beardboards?
Well, Tokyo-based PR consultant Hidenori Atsumi took a page from that book and came up with their own advertising gimmick that makes use of another body part: women’s thighs.
Call it sexist, but their target market is guys who are looking for a reason to ogle, so it somehow makes sense to hire girls and paint ads on their thighs. Well, sort of.
Over 3,000 women have reportedly signed up to become thigh-boards already. As Atsumi explained: “Guys are eager to look at them and girls are okay with exposing their thighs.”
Let me just tell Atsumi though: not all girls are okay with it. Just sayin’.
In order to get the gig, girls 18+ years old must be willing to show off their thighs and have at least 20 connections on their social media profiles. Skirts and socks are recommended outfits, and the girls are also required to post a photo of them sporting the ad on their thighs on their social media profile.
[via theguardian via Pop Up City]
When it came to the Moto X, Google gave us a masterclass in how to build hype, but sustaining it is proving to be a much trickier endeavor. Motorola recently debuted two new commercials on its Youtube channel that aren’t nearly as thrilling as they could be. One clip showcases the Glass-inspired “OK, Google Now” command, which lets you dictate notes and set an alarm verbally. It’s a neat trick, but it’s not exactly seducing the money right out of your wallet. Similarly lacking in earth-shattering impact is the TV spot highlighting the Moto X’s 10-megapixel camera. The Quick Capture feature is nifty, but the promise of “fewer photo fails” isn’t the most rousing endorsement we’ve ever heard. To see for yourself, check out both videos after the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Google
Via: CNET
Source: Motorola (Youtube)
This coffee machine, aptly called “Bye Bye Red Eye”, doesn’t want your money. Instead, it wants to give you a cup of coffee – provided you prove that you really need it, that is. How? By yawning in front of it.
Most people drink coffee as a perk-me-up and to vanquish sleepiness, so the folks behind Douwe Egberts’s are using that with their latest marketing campaign. The coffee machine was set up at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in South Africa, where facial recognition software has been installed in place of a regular slot for bills and change.
All people had to do to get a cup of coffee was stand in front of the machine and yawn. The machine dispensed a steaming cup of coffee for their enjoyment.
During the course of the campaign, over 210 yawns were each rewarded with a cup of delicious joe.
[via TAXI]
Hiding posts on Facebook has been a pretty simple affair, but the firm’s gearing up to add a little more nuance. Instead of simply dismissing updates or sponsored stories, the social network will soon ask users why they decided to banish them from their News Feed. Details on how the feature will work are still MIA, but it could very well function like the site’s advertisement hiding feature, which asks if ads are uninteresting, misleading or otherwise unpleasant. Naturally, giving the outfit the extra intel will allow it to serve up content and ads that better please your palate. Facebook’s Product Manager for Ads Fidji Simo told ABC News that it’ll start testing the tweaks soon, and users should start seeing them surface within the next three to four months. In the meantime, feel free to hide posts without answering to Zuck.
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: ABC News
Gmail’s new layout doesn’t just keep your inbox organized, it also gives Google the perfect opportunity to send you unsolicited email ads. These sponsored missives appear as highlighted entries under the Promotions tab, where you can also find deals and updates from online services you subscribe to. To be fair, Gmail has long displayed advertisements at the top of your inbox, so this development isn’t totally new. In a statement sent to Venturebeat, the company says it’s merely relegating ads “to a more appropriate place” and that they won’t show up unless they’re relevant to you. No word yet if this is a permanent arrangement, but if it makes you livid, you can always kill your Promotions tab or dismiss the intrusive emails by clicking the “x” button on the right.
[Image credit: Antonio Gulli]
Via: BGR, VentureBeat
Source: Geek
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