Elemental Know-How

Funny, I never thought about this until today, but I would imagine that users form other countries feel slightly alienated when they visit most e-commerce sites this time of year and are greeted with “Mother’s Day” specials.

Mother’s Day is celebrated, in some form, in many countries throughout the world. However, interestingly, Mother’s Day takes place at different times throughout the year, depending on where you live.

In the United States, Mother’s Day is, of course, the second Sunday in May. In Poland, it’s May 26th. In Russia, it’s the last Sunday of November. And in Norway, Mother’s Day is the second Sunday in February.

So, shouldn’t e-commerce sites highlight Mother’s Day specials at different times of the year depending on your location?  To me, it seems like a no-brainer, but, frankly, I don’t know of any site that is doing that.  Obviously, most sites tend to be very U.S.-centric, which is sooooo 1997.  Wake up and join us in the global economy!  Localize your e-commerce site!  If you won’t do it for me, do it for moms around the world (as well as us forgetful men)!!!

Anyway, just a thought….And, by the way, if you’re in Indonesia, you can buy your mom Christmas presents and Mother’s Day presents (December 22nd) at the same time…how convenient is that!!

I’ve been following the mostly political issue surrounding the “Jitna” video on several major video portals.  As you may have read, Indonesia had “blockaded” major video portals due to the posting of a controversial “anti-Islam” video on those sites.

It seems like now, more than ever, countries are becoming concerned with citizens in their countries having access to content that may be socially, morally or legally objectionable.

As a provider of online content, it is also possible to block access to content, by using highly accurate IP geotargeting technology.  But, the bigger issue is where to draw the line.  Do I block content solely because it’s socially unacceptable to a certain class of online visitors?  Should I only block content if it’s legally restricted?  Or, do I not block content at all and cite free speech concerns (and instead let the country itself make a decision whether or not to allow its citizens to access the “objectionable” content–and hence also take any resulting backlash form its citizens due to such blocking)?

[Read more →]

I recently read this post over at Marketing Vox and found it very interesting. The conclusion of the study on consumer attitudes towards behavioral targeting was that “most consumers surveyed did express a desire for highly targeted, relevant ads” but consumers also did not like to be “tracked.”

 This sums up the value of IP Intelligence in a nutshell.

Way back in 1999, we invented IP Intelligence because we strongly believed that consumers wanted to get content that was relevant to them without having their privacy invaded by cookies.

IP Intelligence allows ads and product offerings to be targeted much like in the real world (i.e., like customers are used to). Content can be instantly based on a user’s city/town, as well as other metrics such as connection type, company, whether a user is at home or at work, etc.  Importantly, all of this targeting is done without tracking a user’s  behavior or receiving any user-supplied information, and is accomplished totally anonymously and without cookies.

At Digital Element, we are very sympathetic to those who are worried that “Big Brother” is watching them.  As a founder of the company, I know this was one of the driving forces behind starting our company.  We firmly believe that IP Intelligence strikes the appropriate balance between targeting and anonymity, and represents the best way for online businesses to give their customers what they want, without scaring them off.

With all this talk about the elections in the U.S., as we go state by state through the primary season, I’ve been thinking lately about the value of IP intelligence in political campaigns.   Every candidate seems to tailor his or her message to the different demographics and political realities in the audience as he or she travels the country, but it seems like online, each candidate’s web site fails to ignore the political realities of geography. Why don’t candidates instantly show me issues that are particularly relevant to me when I visit their web sites?

[Read more →]

OK, not really “my world” per se…but the world of IP intelligence (for those who know me, that should come as a huge relief). No, this is not some god-given knowledge that I was born with. However, I do consider myself a pretty smart guy (and, did I mention very good-looking, too? And modest??? But I digress…). IP Intelligence is the tons of anonymous data derived from analyzing an Internet user’s IP address, including city-level location and other information. It is something that all companies doing business on the Internet have access to and should use to make their online businesses more successful. OK, so the secret’s out. Now, what are you going to do with it? You see, that’s where I come in. As founder of Digital Element, I’ve been involved in the world of IP Intelligence since its infancy, coining the term almost 10 years ago.   [Read more →]