Watching while you surf: “(Economist)
Is it a worrying invasion of privacy for web surfers, or a lucrative new business model for online advertising? A new ‘behavioural’ approach to targeting internet advertisements, being pioneered by companies such as Phorm, NebuAd and FrontPorch, is said to be both of these things. The idea is that special software, installed in the networks of internet-service providers (ISPs), intercepts webpage requests generated by their subscribers as they roam the net. The pages in question are delivered in the usual way, but are also scanned for particular keywords in order to build up a profile of each subscriber?s interests. These profiles can then be used to target advertisements more accurately.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)