[Corp. Watch] Dystopia, Inc: Ads that watch YOU

[Corporation Watch]

When You Watch These Ads, The Ads Check You Out

(Associated Press, Jan. 30) -- Watch an advertisement on a video  
screen in a mall, healthclub, or grocery store and there's a slim --  
but growing -- chance the ad is watching you too.

	Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it,  
tracking who looks at the screen and for how long.

	The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the  
viewer's gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity  
-- and can change the ads accordingly.

	That could mean razor ads for men, cosmetics ads for women, and video- 
game ads for teens.

	And even if the ads don't shift based on which people are watching,  
the technology's ability to determine the viewers' demographics is  
golden for advertisers who want to know how effectively they're  
reaching their target audience.

	Although the technology remains in limited use for now, advertising  
industry analysts say it is finally beginning to live up to its promise.

	The manufacturers say their systems can accurately determine gender  
85 to 90 percent of the time, while accuracy for the other measures  
continues to be refined.

	The concept is reminiscent of the science-fiction movie "Minority  
Report," in which Tom Cruise's character enters a mall and finds that  
retinal scanners identify him and prompt personalized ads that greet  
him by name.

	But this technology doesn't go nearly that far. It doesn't identify  
people individually -- it simply categorizes them by outward  
appearances.

	So a video screen might show a motorcycle ad for a group of men, but  
switch to a minivan ad when women and children join them, said Vicki  
Rabenou, the chief measurement officer of TruMedia Technologies, one  
of the leaders in developing the technology.

	"This is proactive merchandising," Rabenou said. "You're targeting  
people with smart ads."

	Because the tracking industry is still in its infancy, there isn't  
yet consensus on how to refer to the technology. Some call it face  
reading, face counting, gaze tracking, or -- more generally -- face- 
based audience measurement.

	Whatever it's called, advertisers are finally ready to try it, said  
advertising consultant Jack Sullivan, a senior vice president of  
Starcom USA. "I think you're going to see a lot of movement toward it  
by the end of this year in the top 10 markets," he said.

	The tracking systems work like this: A sensor or camera in or near  
the screen identifies viewers' faces by picking up shapes, colors, and  
the relative speed of movement. The concept is similar to the way  
consumer cameras automatically make sure faces are in focus.

	When the ad system pinpoints a face, it compares shapes and patterns  
to faces that are already identified in a database as male or female.  
That lets the system predict the person's gender almost immediately.

	"The most important features seem to be cheekbones, fullness of lips,  
and the gap between the eyebrows," said Paolo Prandoni, chief  
scientific officer of Quividi, a French company that is another player  
in face-tracking technology. Others include Studio IMC.

	The companies say their systems have become adept at determining a  
viewer's gender, but age is trickier: The software can categorize age  
only in broad ranges -- teens, younger to middle-aged folks, and  
seniors.

	There's moderate demand for ads based on ethnic information, but the  
companies acknowledge that determining ethnicity is more challenging  
than figuring out gender and age range.

	Prandoni provided the Associated Press a limited version of Quividi's  
software, which uses an ordinary webcam to stream video to a computer.  
The trial version tracked gender only, using color-coded circles to  
distinguish male and female faces.

	The sample size was too small to be statistically significant, but it  
was accurate about 80 to 90 percent of the time.

	That might be as precise as the systems ever get, said Deborah  
Mitchell, a professor of consumer psychology at the University of  
Wisconsin at Madison. Even the human brain can't always determine  
gender, age or ethnicity.

	Still, "even if it gets to 70 percent accuracy, that's still giving  
you a wealth of information," said Mitchell, who teaches in the  
Wisconsin School of Business.

	That information is certainly valuable to Bill Ketcham, the chief  
marketing officer of Adspace Networks, which sells video advertising  
on 1,400 video screens at 105 malls around the nation.

	Adspace is testing six TruMedia systems at malls in Winston-Salem,  
N.C., Pittsburgh, and St. Louis. The kiosks display a daily list of  
top 10 sales at the mall, as well as paid advertising that comes  
largely from movie studios and TV networks.

	A 15-second video ad that replays across Adspace's national network  
can cost as much as $765,000 per month. So advertisers expect rigorous  
information about who sees the spots -- information that face tracking  
can now provide, Ketcham said.

	For now, at least, Adspace isn't changing the ads based on who's  
watching -- Ketcham said the kiosks' audiences are so large that it  
wouldn't be practical to personalize ads to individuals.

	Because face tracking might feel reminiscent of Big Brother,  
manufacturers are racing to offer reassurances.

	Although the system analyzes the image of who's watching the screen,  
the manufacturers insist that nothing is ever stored, and no  
identifying information is ever associated with the pictures.

	That makes it less intrusive than a surveillance camera that records  
what it sees, the developers say. The idea still worries Lee Tien, a  
senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil- 
liberties group in San Francisco.

	Tien said it's not enough to say some system is "not as bad as some  
other technology," and argues that cameras that study people  
contribute to an erosion of privacy. Other privacy advocates question  
whether it should be used on consumers without their knowledge.

	Harley Geiger, staff counsel for the Center for Democracy &  
Technology in Washington, said advertisers should tell consumers what  
details about them are being collected and for what purpose.

	"With the technology proliferating, now or the short-term is the time  
to consider privacy protections," he said. "If you don't build it in  
at an early stage, it becomes very difficult to build it into an  
already established system."