scorpion 0 Posted June 3, 2008 Cameras in billboards gather data http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=563&docId=l:800140637&topicId=13717&start=2&topics=single Copyright 2008 International Herald Tribune The International Herald Tribune May 31, 2008 Saturday FINANCE; Pg. 21 1149 words Watching the watchers: Cameras in billboards gather data Stephanie Clifford - The New York Times Media Group NEW YORK In advertising these days, the prize goes to those who can measure everything - how many people see a particular ad, when they see it, who they are. All of which is easy on the Internet, and getting easier on television and radio. Billboards, on the other hand, are a different story. For the most part, they are still a relic of old-world media, and the best estimates about viewership numbers come from foot traffic counts or highway reports, neither of which can guarantee that the people on hand were really looking. Now some entrepreneurs have stepped forward with a technology to solve the problem. They are equipping billboards with tiny cameras that gather details about the passers-by - their gender, approximate age and how long they looked at a billboard. These details are transmitted to a central database. Behind the technology are small start-ups that say they are not storing actual images of the passers-by, so privacy should not be a concern. The cameras, they say, use software to determine that a person is standing in front of a billboard, then analyze facial features (like cheekbone height and the distance between the nose and the chin) to judge the person's gender and age. So far they are not using race as a parameter, but they say that they can and will soon. The goal, these companies say, is to tailor a digital display to the person standing in front of it - to show one advertisement to a middle-aged white woman, for example, and a different one to a teenage Asian boy. Last weekend, a Quividi camera was installed on a billboard on 8th Avenue near Columbus Circle in New York that was playing a trailer for the ''Andromeda Strain,'' a miniseries on a cable channel. ''I didn't see that at all, to be honest,'' said Sam ****s, a 26-year-old attorney, when the camera was pointed out to him by a reporter. ''That's disturbing. I would say it's arguably an invasion of one's privacy.'' Organized privacy groups agree, though so far the practice of monitoring billboards is too new and minimal to have drawn opposition. But the placement of surreptitious cameras in public places has been a flash point in London, where cameras are used to fight crime, as well as in the Manhattan borough of New York, where there is a similar initiative. What do you think? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
minko 0 Posted June 4, 2008 A Lawyer standing on a street in New York can argue that one's right to "privacy" is being invaded by a camera, is a Lawwwwyer indeed. I hate lawyers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted June 4, 2008 I am waiting for the day I walk up to a sign inside of a mall, and it say welcome back Scorpion, how was that shirt you bought last time you were here? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rebco 0 Posted June 4, 2008 I could understand cameras to help in detouring crime but for commercial purposes Nah that aint right.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RickA 0 Posted June 4, 2008 BIG BROTHER is alive and well and living in New York.... and he is after your money????? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C7 in CA 0 Posted June 4, 2008 Sounds like they aren't taking pictures. Just using video analytics. I dislike advertising as much as the next guy. But if I am going to be bombarded with it anyway I prefer it be "targeted" towards my demographic. I'd rather be served up an ad for big screen TV's then an ad for feminine hygiene products. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted June 4, 2008 Well said!! My side of the computer gets all of the dewalt tool ads, and my wife's side gets all of the flower ads!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dylan2008 0 Posted June 5, 2008 www.scorpion-group.co.uk Scorpion, it's your web? There is also one 蝎子scorpion in the website? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted June 5, 2008 NO. I cannot take claim to that website. _____________________________________________________________ I was going to buy www.scorpionsecurity.com, and I was doing a search, and it was available. I was going to buy it the next day. Low, and behold this jerk is aware of it somehow, and he goes, and buys it out from under me!! I contacted him about selling it to me, and he wanted 6 figures! I did not mind that someone beat me to the punch, but really gets my goat is that he is not using the domain!!! He just has it parked so he can make money off of it with advertising! Now that really stirs the bees nest. It makes me feel the same way when I see a high performance antique sports car, and it is being driven under the speed limit, and it is only used to buy groceries once a week, and the carb/injectors never get to open up, and breath. You do not give a greyhound a desk job! I think this guy pays a fee to see what domains are looked up. I believe he buys them to see if he can flip them. I do not know what service it is, but it has to be through sedo somehow. I started searching all kinds of crud domains, and I had my friends do it to. The domains are only $8.00, but if he bought half of what we searched then he has shelled out some serious cash! Now he is down to $1500.00!! I guess no one wanted it, and he is stuck with it!! I want it, but maybe I wait till it gets down to $500.00 just for spite! LOL! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rebco 0 Posted June 5, 2008 When you seach for a domain you want make sure you buy it that same second or else someone else will, I had the same thing happen to me a long long time ago i just let him or her have it and waited till it was up. them i paid $60 for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
