The problem is that the online gamers spend a lot of time interacting with games, but publishers have limited access and visibility into what motivates their customers and how best to monetize them. This is the main focus of the company’s Leafnode product. As a solution to this problem , this product will track hours of logged time by individual players and create individual behavioral profiles by using advanced predictive algorithms.

[Venture Beat]

There are two different kinds of web pages:

1. Static.
2. Dynamic.

Static web pages contain the same pre built content each time the page is loaded.They are standard HTML pages with HTML codes that control the page display.The page looks the same every time it is loaded.

Dynamic web-pages on the other hand are built on the fly to match the users request or based on user interaction.Generally they may contain PHP,ASP or JSP code that are server side code which enable the server to generate different content each time they are loaded.

Even though considering the flexibility of Dynamic web pages ,  there is still scope for development of the interaction experience of the user,to improve the relevance of the content displayed etc.

There are websites as iGoogle,MyYahoo,MyExite,MyCNN that allow users to customize the website according to their like. But even in this case users have to do the customization themselves by explicitly itemizing each item for which the user must have understanding of the website itself,and it know the different offering site like MyYahoo have could be a daunting task and will require the user to browse the site extensively.

So we look into this new concept called adaptive websites (the research was ongoing since the last decade) :the websites that automatically improve their presentation,organization( of pages) and content based on the users access patterns that are mined from the web server logs or other data sources.

For example ,let us consider a person visiting a news website on a regular basis. Every time he visits the website, he only visits the links related to computers,technology , science and technology,electronics,computers , literature and sports,  rather than business,economics and politics ( but still seldom reads such  articles  ).So based on his past reading activities,the website may his access detect patterns and know about his interest,and based on these results structure the website so as to include more links about technology or computers rather than politics or  finance ,then the visit for the person shall be more useful.

So, adaptive website analyze user access pattern and mine them to find different groups of people sharing same interests and display the website to such users by improving  the web-site’s design,organization  accordingly then the users will find the website more useful than the latter case. Building adaptive websites is still a concept . Data mining,machine learning,collaborative filtering etc are the techniques closely related in making Adaptive Website a reality.

First ,based on the user access data and using data mining tools we must detect groups(clusters) of users with similar access patterns and form clusters. We can either form flat clusters or Hierarchical Clusters.

Once the Clustering is built,we then look at transformation.The process of transformation deals with creating patterns for each cluster by searching for the different steps required to design the from the  present initial page to the goal page  using a scoring function and applying the information gained employing different mining techniques on the access histories of users(generally Web Server Logs) to complete the transformation (similar to the process of planning in which the path from initial to goal is deduced in steps).

These transformations re stored on the web server ,and when a user visits the website again ,the web server will detect him and apply the transformation  to the web pages to provide the user with an environment designed to his/her likes and habits , thus making  the visit more fruitful and eventful and the user being satisfied.

Hence ,if and when the concept of Adaptive websites becomes a reality ,the Internet that is ever growing and becoming a bigger part of our life day-by-day , will become a more pleasurable,informative and relevant experience for each one of us.

Read more here.

– Venkatesh M. [Student Intern]

Microsoft Corp. has filed five lawsuits against five unknown individuals under the business names Soft Solutions, DirectAd, qiweroqw.com, ITmeter INC. and ote2008.info in Washington state court this Thursday. Microsoft is asking a court for damages and a court order to stop these advertisers from operating normally.

What are Malicious Ads?

The term “malware,” derived from “malicious software,” refers to any software specifically designed to harm a computer or the software it’s running.Malware can be installed on a computer, with or without your knowledge, in a number of ways—usually when you visit a contaminated website or download seemingly innocent software. Malware ads are an attempt to use advertising to distribute malware by including malicious code inside the ad creative.

How does Malicious Ads behave?

Its very hard to predict the bahaviour of the malicious ad. The look and feel of the ad would be normal most of the times, but sometimes it would act funny by showing blank ads or inappropriate ad, making it easy to identify. Some known behaviours are as follows:

1. The malicious ads on a website would not load or if loaded,would disorient the layout of the website.
2. As soon as the malicious ad load, for instance an SWF/flash based ad creative, they would crash the browser.
3. The malicious ads would load an unapproved or unauthorized ads. Hard for the user to recognize until clicked to redirect to a wrong website.
4. The malicious ads if clicked, would lead to download spyware  or would lead to much more privacy damaging issues.

What harm can it do?

Just like any other malware, malicious ads, if allowed, would harm the computer, this could just be the user experience or harming the whole software system.

General Tips

• Be careful of what you download
• Keep your system, browser, anti-virus and spyware prevention software updated regularly.
• Keep up with the internet subscribe to news groups or newsletters related to internet security

What to do if you suspect Malware in your system?

• Stop all activity connected with online financial activity, passwords and other sensitive information.
• Run a software virus and spyware update to have the latest definitions avaialable and installed.
• Once you confirm that your security software is up-to-date, run it to scan your computer for viruses and spyware.
• If the problem persists after you diagnose and treat it locally, consult an expert.
• Once your computer is back up and running normally, think about how malware could have been downloaded to your machine, and what you could do to avoid it in the future.
• Finally, always monitor your computer for unusual behavior.

What to do if you suspect a certain website is displaying malware ads?

• If you suspect the website to display a malware ad. Do report it to the website contact or raise an alarm in the website forum or blog comments, for further investigation by the website team/webmaster.
• Block the website from being accessed on your computer by adding it to the unsafe list till the threat is cleared.
• Run antivirus and spyware checks and check for unusual changes.

More on this:

Recently a top Google executive, Eric Davis, the head of anti-malvertising at Google, speaking  at the Virus Bulletin 09 conference  said that “the company can’t do it alone  to prevent malicious ads from finding their way onto search result pages and other Web sites. Instead, he suggested that an industry-wide coalition comprising ISPs and other concerned parties would ring in a major effect on the epidemic of malicious ads.”

Malicious ads turns out to be an industry problem as a whole, Is there a permanent solution to this problem? We should wait and watch. In the mean time take a look at the Google’s anti-malvertising.com website, which seems to be the first step against this epidemic.

Read more at MSNBC.

A discussion room in an advertising company will now comprise of a few data miners as well. Yes, this is the latest trend. The question of “why data miners in an ad agency?” will be the first one which would occur to our  mind. The simplest answer that can satisfy our ask is, the company wants to market ads based on user needs. Based on the user data analysis, the marketing would bare more tastier fruit. But why not we have a data analysis done by a market researcher? The ad agencies are looking ahead and taking one step further. They are paying close attention to user needs. Does optimization of ads ring a bell?  Also, with the recession taking up the market, companies sought to take every advantage they can leverage, even combining marketing with digital technology for better ads and better ROI.

What has data mining got to do with the marketing?

The digital advent has highly increased the necessity for smarter ways of advertising through internet. Advertisers have started to thoroughly examine and debate data mining and other new sciences that will shape the interactive marketplace. It is sure to be broached in discussions about consumer trust, and maybe even in a Facebook session aptly titled “Knowing is Better.”

An instance of the same…..

An ironic prelude to the week-long fete of advertising’s digital future was the Sept. 18 settlement of a privacy lawsuit related to Facebook’s social ad experiment, Beacon. The short-lived, poorly executed program riled online consumers, whose purchase information with off-site retailers such as Zappos and Blockbuster was unexpectedly shared with their Facebook friends. Their only recourse was to “opt out” of the program after the damage was done. While there are mounting examples of online consumers trading their personal information and privacy for more targeted interactive results, Beacon assumed too much with its initial tacit user approval.

Going the giant’s way…

All major internet giants like  Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc. have already gone far and wide in dealing with user data. They have reports saying how their research with user data has proven to be fruitful. User insights, social connections, personal preferences and buying history — which Amazon and Google already masterfully manipulate — are building blocks for an interactive economy that relentlessly exploits links to generate revenues.

Forrester Research shows that even as digital grows from 12 percent of existing overall advertising spend to 21 percent (or $55 billion) by 2014, there is a pressing necessity for companies to master constructive interactive relationships with consumers and each other to generate many times that in digital sales and other transactions.

So why this sort of marketing now?

Though recession has considerably reduced the advertising budgets of the company and the consumer spending allocations, there are signs of few marketers who drift consumers and technology into the interactive future.

What exactly will advertisers and media do with those interactive connections, and the insights and information they yield? What do you think?

-Vidhya, Student Intern