Someone over on BT Beta forums reminded me that Yahoo! are "content" partners of BT in their ISP role, and might have a commercial interest both in the advertising revenue that Phorm is attempting to wrest away from search engines and in the issue of robots.txt abuse by Phorm. I've sent in this to Yahoo! via their Site Explorer feedback (their equivalent of Google's Webmaster Tools)
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As a Webmaster I am concerned about what my UK based ISP (BTYahoo!/BT
Broadband) have told me about their plans to implement Webwise, a
technology patented by former spyware company 121Media, now known as
Phorm.Inc.
121 Media were formerly responsible for PeopleonPage, and for placing
difficult to remove rootkits on people's computers.
This technology uses Layer 7 interception of a users complete http
traffic to profile/mirror their browsing behaviour, and then use the
information to serve up targeted ads, based on an anonymised, cookie-
based UID placed on the users computer. It also involves the forging
of a cookie, purporting to come from the website visited, even if that
website has a privacy policy that says it does not set cookies.
It is similar but not identical to the US company NebuAd technology.
There has been relatively little debate about the isses this
technology raises for webmasters.
It also raises issues for the major search engines, and I wonder if you have any comment on a commercial partner of yours - BT plc, being involved commercially with a technology which is designed (and promoted by its CEO Kent Ertugrul) to take business and revenue AWAY from search engines, and which is in effect a direct competitor to Yahoo! Search..
When I allow a search engine to spider my site, I am aware that the search engine allows me to use specific user agent declarations to limit where it can go, and it respects those declarations. The end result of my site being spidered by Yahoo! Slurp is that traffic/visitors are driven to my site and I benefit.
When Phorm/Webwise visits my site, it intercepts and profiles the browsing habits of my visitor, profiles the unique data exchange they have with my site, without my informed consent, then develops targeted ads to that visitor which will result in them being driven AWAY from my site. If this model proves successful it is likely to reduce Yahoo!'s income from adverts and paid links.
BT have stated that Webwise/Phorm will assume implied consent of
webmasters, to profile copyrighted web content, copy it, and exploit
it for commercial gain IF THE WEBMASTER CONSENTS TO A GOOGLE SPIDER
visiting their site.
Now it may be that they have got this wrong, and they may in actual fact be relying on generic spidering prohibition (or its absence) in robots.txt to decide whether they can infer consent to visit from the webmaster.In which case it becomes of interest not only to Google, but to ALL operators of commercial search engines. I wonder how you feel about Phorm using the permission given to search engines to decide whether Phorm/Webwise may snoop on a visit to a site?
We are still in the process of trying to ascertain this from your commercial partner BT plc
How do you feel about webmasters feeling that they need to begin blocking search engines in order to protect themselves from Webwise?
Of course the major search engines allow and even assist webmasters to
exclude their robot from spidering sites by the use of specific user
agent strings. Webwise will neither set a user agent string, nor
permit itself to be specifically excluded via robots.txt.
I am happy to provide any further information you may require on Phorm/Webwise and their tie-up with your commercial partner BT plc.
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Anyone else want to join in?
The more we can get the BT phones ringing the less time they have to roll out those trials.
Hello Yahoo! here, can I have a word about Webwise please....?
Hello Google here, can I have a word about Webwise please....?
Hello ICO here, can I have a word about Webwise please.....?
Hello ISPA here, can I have a word about deep packet inspection please.....?
Hello Lord Northesk here, can I have a word .... etc etc.
You get the idea!
Hello Kent Ertugrul here, What the ?@~XX"$%&***!!~~@: OIX is going on?
---------- Post added at 17:12 ---------- Previous post was at 17:11 ----------
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Originally Posted by pippincp
Naah! You should've gone for the £50.00 and told them face to face.
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Could tell the whole focus group (after the meal).