Improving the robustness and privacy of HTTP cookie-based tracking systems within an affiliate marketing context : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

E-commerce activities provide a global reach for enterprises large and small. Third parties generate visitor traffic for a fee; through affiliate marketing, search engine marketing, keyword bidding and through organic search, amongst others. Therefore, improving the robustness of the underlying tracking and state management techniques is a vital requirement for the growth and stability of e-commerce. In an inherently stateless ecosystem such as the Internet, HTTP cookies have been the de-facto tracking vector for decades. In a previous study, the thesis author exposed circumstances under which cookie-based tracking system can fail, some due to technical glitches, others due to manipulations made for monetary gain by some fraudulent actors. Following a design science research paradigm, this research explores alternative tracking vectors discussed in previous research studies within a cross-domain tracking environment. It evaluates their efficacy within current context and demonstrates how to use them to improve the robustness of existing tracking techniques. Research outputs include methods, instantiations and a privacy model artefact based on information seeking behaviour of different categories of tracking software, and their resulting privacy intrusion levels. This privacy model provides clarity and is useful for practitioners and regulators to create regulatory frameworks that do not hinder technological advancement, rather they curtail privacy-intrusive tracking practices on the Internet. The method artefacts are instantiated as functional prototypes, available publicly on Internet, to demonstrate the efficacy and utility of the methods through live tests. The research contributes to the theoretical knowledge base through generalisation of empirical findings and to the industry by problem solving design artefacts

Is Google the next Microsoft? Competition, Welfare and Regulation in Internet Search

Internet search (or perhaps more accurately `web-search') has grown exponentially over the last decade at an even more rapid rate than the Internet itself. Starting from nothing in the 1990s, today search is a multi-billion dollar business. Search engine providers such as Google and Yahoo! have become household names, and the use of a search engine, like use of the Web, is now a part of everyday life. The rapid growth of online search and its growing centrality to the ecology of the Internet raise a variety of questions for economists to answer. Why is the search engine market so concentrated and will it evolve towards monopoly? What are the implications of this concentration for different `participants' (consumers, search engines, advertisers)? Does the fact that search engines act as `information gatekeepers', determining, in effect, what can be found on the web, mean that search deserves particularly close attention from policy-makers? This paper supplies empirical and theoretical material with which to examine many of these questions. In particular, we (a) show that the already large levels of concentration are likely to continue (b) identify the consequences, negative and positive, of this outcome (c) discuss the possible regulatory interventions that policy-makers could utilize to address these

Proposals of Communication Mix for chosen Event in Tourism Open Cellars

Diplomová práce je zaměřena na komunikační mix vybrané události (eventu). Touto událostí je “Festival otevřených sklepů”, pořádaný neziskovou organizací Nadace Partnerství, o.p.s. ve městě Znojmě v dubnu 2010. Cílem práce je kriticky analyzovat stávající komunikační mix, předložit návrhy na zlepšení současného stavu. Přínosem diplomové práce, po případné implementaci závěrů, by mělo být zvýšení návštěvnosti následujícího “Festivalu otevřených sklepů” na podzim roku 2010.Diploma thesis is focused on communication mix of a chosen event. This event is “Open Cellars Festival”, organized by non-for-profit organization “Nadace Partnerství”, o.p.s. in town of Znojmo in April 2010. The aim is to critically analyze contemporary communication mix and offer proposals for its improvement. The contribution after possible conclusion implementation of the thesis should increase attendance of consequential “Open Cellars Festival” in autumn 2010.

Can regional community web portals become sustainable? : the Albany GateWAy : a case study

Asking the question can regional and community web portals become sustainable? demands a foray into many different disciplines. Sociology, education, business, strategic and knowledge management, organisational theory, relationship management and current technological trends and capabilities are some of the areas on which community projects, such us the development of communities on-line, are founded

Plantsman, June/July 2007

A newsletter of the New Hampshire Plant Growers\u27 Associatio

A Content and Visual Analysis of Promotional Pieces Used to Promote the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board

A communications campaign was developed for a commodity promotion board in the southern region of the United States with promotional pieces produced and disseminated by a third-party communications group to reach the general public, soybean producers, and animal agriculture producers target audiences through key themes and messages. A systematic, content-driven approach assessed the potential impact on perceptions of individuals. This study utilized a content and visual analysis based on semiotic theory to analyze creative pieces and focus groups to assess content quality and impact. Many of the creative pieces displayed too many themes, and the themes did not accurately represent the intended message. Although TCG achieved predominately consistent messaging, a portion of promotional pieces across all audiences lacked an outlined message for comparison. Thus, one-third of the creative pieces lacked a means of evaluating the piece to determine overall campaign success. A local celebrity endorser, P. Allen Smith, was utilized to establish credibility in the general public target audience. Many participants also felt the promotional piece was not targeted to their audience and felt the key message was unclear and message was vague and non-descriptive, due to the lack of targeted, audience specific messaging present in promotional pieces. The quality of promotional pieces ranked between fair and average in all five areas: copy, image, design, video, and audio across all three audiences. However, scores were slightly higher in the general public audience, due to efforts by Smith\u27s production team. Additionally, because the ASPB campaign materials did not identify a specific audience segment of Arkansas\u27 general public, it was difficult to recruit a targeted group of individuals to assist with campaign evaluation through focus groups. Promotional campaigns must be evaluated to determine effectiveness. The researchers recommend utilizing a needs assessment to aid in identifying appropriate messaging, and test those messaged through evaluation procedures, such as focus groups. A gatekeeper, responsible for reviewing or testing any materials, is recommended for future campaign communications efforts. Future research should continue to assess commodity promotion effectiveness. Finally, the Model of Messaging and Campaign Development was developed by researchers for future communication campaign efforts

Online Tracking: When Does it Become Stalking?

Online user activities are tracked for many purposes. In e-commerce, cross-domain tracking is used to quantify and pay for web-tra±c generation. Our previous research studies have shown that HTTP cookie-based tracking process, though reliable, can fail due to technical reasons, as well as through fraudulent manipulation by tra±c generators. In this research study, we evaluate which of the previously published tracking mechanisms are still functional. We assess the e±cacy and utility of those methods to create a robust tracking mechanism for e-commerce. A failsafe and robust tracking mechanism does not need to translate into further privacy intrusions. Many countries are rushing to introduce new regulations, which can have a negative impact on the development of robust technologies in an inherently stateless eco-system. We used a multi-domain, purpose-built simulation environment to experiment common tracking scenarios, and to describe the parameters that de¯ne the minimum tracking requirement use-cases, and practices that result in invading privacy of users. This study will help practitioners in their implementations, and policy developers and regulators to draw up policies that would not curtail the development of robust tracking technologies that are needed in e-commerce activities, while safeguarding the privacy of internet users.fals

The Role of the Mangement Sciences in Research on Personalization

We present a review of research studies that deal with personalization. We synthesize current knowledge about these areas, and identify issues that we envision will be of interest to researchers working in the management sciences. We take an interdisciplinary approach that spans the areas of economics, marketing, information technology, and operations. We present an overarching framework for personalization that allows us to identify key players in the personalization process, as well as, the key stages of personalization. The framework enables us to examine the strategic role of personalization in the interactions between a firm and other key players in the firm's value system. We review extant literature in the strategic behavior of firms, and discuss opportunities for analytical and empirical research in this regard. Next, we examine how a firm can learn a customer's preferences, which is one of the key components of the personalization process. We use a utility-based approach to formalize such preference functions, and to understand how these preference functions could be learnt based on a customer's interactions with a firm. We identify well-established techniques in management sciences that can be gainfully employed in future research on personalization.CRM, Persoanlization, Marketing, e-commerce,