[Infowarrior] - Privacy: MS patents 'mother of all adware systems'

[Richard Forno]

(possible privacy and confidentiality issues......not a good thing......rf)


Microsoft patents the mother of all adware systems

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070717-microsoft-patents-the-mother-o
f-all-adware-systems.html

By John McBride | Published: July 17, 2007 - 09:45AM CT

It's such a tremendously bad idea that it's almost bound to succeed.
Microsoft has filed another patent, this one for an "advertising framework"
that uses "context data" from your hard drive to show you advertisements and
"apportion and credit advertising revenue" to ad suppliers in real time.
Yes, Redmond wants to own the patent on the mother of all adware.

The application, filed in 2006, describes a multi-faceted, robust
ad-delivering system that lives on a "user computer, whether it's part of
the OS, an application or integrated within applications."

"Applications, tools, or utilities may use an application program interface
to report context data tags such as key words or other information that may
be used to target advertisements," says the filing. "The advertising
framework may host several components for receiving and processing the
context data, refining the data, requesting advertisements from an
advertising supplier, for receiving and forwarding advertisements to a
display client for presentation, and for providing data back to the
advertising supplier."

The adware framework would leave almost no data untouched in its quest to
sell you stuff. It would inspect "user document files, user e-mail files,
user music files, downloaded podcasts, computer settings, computer status
messages (e.g., a low memory status or low printer ink)," and more. How
could we have been so blind as to not see the marketing value in computer
status messages?

The software would also free advertising from its traditional browser yoke.
"A word processor may display a banner ad along the top of a window, similar
to a toolbar, while a graphical ad may be displayed in a frame associated
with the application. A digital editor for photos or movies may support
video-based advertisements," the patent application says.

The patent application, first unearthed by InformationWeek, gives the
impression that your software would have more control over the advertising
than you would. "An e-mail client may specify that ads from competitors must
be excluded, that its own display client must be used... (that) no more than
4 ads per hour are allowed, and that only text or graphical...
advertisements are supported." The patent makes no mention of any method by
which an actual user might exert control, nor does it mention very real
privacy or security concerns.

That's okay. It's still a good thing. It says so right in the application:
"The ability to derive and process context data from local sources rather
than monitor interactions with a remote entity, such as a server, benefits
both consumers and advertisers by delivering more tightly targeted
advertisements. The benefit to the user is the perception that the ads are
more relevant, and therefore, less of an interruption. The benefit to the
advertiser is better focus and a higher chance of conversion to a sale."
The patent is a fascinating exercise in advertising delivery systems. But
surely that's all it is‹an exercise. No way anyone would ever actually make
a thing like this. Right?