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Comments: 172 +- Your Rights Online: Samsung System Tailors Ads To Its Audience on Sunday September 06, @09:04PM
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angry tapir writes "Samsung has developed an outdoor digital advertising system that tailors ads based on its audience. There are three main components of the system: an LCD display panel, a dual lens camera and a processing computer, which runs the company's proprietary facial recognition software. If the technology identifies several female members in a group, then it can target advertisements at them, for example. Even if the group is mixed, the technology can identify whether onlookers are children or adults. If they're adults then maybe a wine ad could run whereas an advertisement for toys might play for kids."
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No no no no no! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No no no no no! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
"We've noticed that you could use some discreetly-wrapped male enhancement pills."
Re:No no no no no! (Score:5, Funny)
After RTFA (yes, I make semi-witty first posts before RTFA just because I can, sue me) I can only assume someone will post something about the pants being irrelevant because it's made for public outdoors advertisements.
If you are or were on the verge of making such a post, I would like to strongly urge you to reconsider who you're dealing with here.
Parent
Re:No no no no no! (Score:4, Funny)
+1 eerily prescient?
Parent
Re:No no no no no! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:No no no no no! (Score:5, Funny)
If you're concerned that technology can determine whether you're wearing pants by seeing your face, you've got bigger problems than your privacy.
ProTip: The pants don't go on the head.
Parent
This could go badly (Score:5, Funny)
If they're adults then maybe a wine ad could run whereas an advertisement for toys might play for kids
And if it's a mixed group of adults and kids, it shows an ad for drinking wine out of plastic sippy cups?
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
http://www.tetrapak.com/us/packaging/food_categories/wine/pages/default.aspx [tetrapak.com]
http://www.slashfood.com/2008/05/17/would-you-drink-wine-from-a-juice-box/ [slashfood.com]
I'll wait here while you hide your kids.
There is something very cool about having tailored advertisements. Google's found a way to make it work, and in the AFK world there is evidence of commercial tailoring for sporting events like the SuperBowl. People who watch the SB for the ads (like reading Playboy for the nudes, I suppose) typically enjoy funny and uniq
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Tailoring ads for a specific audience has been the norm for a very long time, not just the Superbowl.
Finance and insurance during Sunday morning news shows, Coors during football, tampons during Oprah.
Its not that the audience is more suggestible, but you don't want to spend/waste ad money pointing to the wrong audience.
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"drinking wine out of plastic sippy cups"
You that's actually not a bad idea. I tend to spill a lot as I get more drunk. Sure I'll have no dignity but that happens anyways when I'm drunk. At least with this I won't have to wash wine stain out of my clothing.
Imagine the embarrasing tie-ins (Score:4, Interesting)
Say it recognizes specific types of people. Would you really want ads for adult dating sites popping up if it thought a bachlor was strolling by? Or it could detect "that time of the month" and started advertising feminine products. Or how about it pops up porn ads when it only senses adult males in the vicinity.
Re:Imagine the embarrasing tie-ins (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course, that depends on who the user of the technology (such as, advertisement agencies), not the technology itself. The technology simply detects who is looking at the billboard, and how old the person is. It's entirely up to the ad agency to show adult dating sites or whatsoever on the billboard.
Thus, I think the ad agencies will end up putting ads that aren't so offensive to any demographic, anyway. Unlike popups from the web, it's intended to be placed on public space.
Parent
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Thus, I think the ad agencies will end up putting ads that aren't so offensive to any demographic, anyway.
Certainly gender-targeted advertising, in the way they're thinking, seems like it may miss large numbers of potential customers:
For example, if the technology identifies several female members in a group, then a jewelry, cosmetic, or perfume ad could run, said Samsung. If it were males then shaving products or beer advertisements could be played.
Apparently, Samsung believes women don't like beer.
Then again, the GP apparently believes women don't watch porn:
Or how about it pops up porn ads when it only senses adult males in the vicinity.
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1) show 'em all simultaneously. problem? information overload - nobody pays attention to anything in particular, but everyone is annoyed. bad for advertiser, bad for consumer.
2) show 'em all one after the other (on a TV). consumers aren't as annoyed, but the chances of anyone
It'll be Door #3 (Score:2)
You have:
information overload - nobody pays attention to anything in particular, but everyone is annoyed. bad for advertiser, bad for consumer.
And:
...the chances of anyone seeing anything they're interested in are tiny. bad for advertiser => bad for the world...
Advertising is another business bubble that has yet to burst, it's just taking a really, really long time.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
If adult ads would pop up when males walk by, this would result in an infinite loop when displaying those ads will draw in more males, resulting in overcrowding the area.
I wonder who's going to be first to sue (Score:5, Interesting)
This sort of technology may be an advertiser's wet dream, but it's pretty screwed up.
Re: (Score:2)
This is a way for people to get ads for products that they at least *might* be interested in, and help businesses keep advertising costs down by not showing ads to groups that wouldn't be interested.
Whenever people get scared of things I this, I chuckle and remember a story my grandfath
Re: (Score:2)
A world without advertisement? (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd rather pick my laundry detergent based on the results of independent testing, than based on who advertises the most. Why doesn't the world work that way? Consumers would be much better off.
How long until... (Score:5, Insightful)
I can see this being a big waste of money that will hardly ever work correctly, and just being an annoying method of delivering ads when it is working.
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Re:How long until... (Score:4, Informative)
"As a service to our customers, the Digital Rights Management technology in our TV will disable the machine if it detects that our advertising technology has become inoperative."
Parent
Re:How long until... (Score:4, Insightful)
Ain't going to happen. How many CCTV camera lenses are painted over in the UK?
Parent
You're going to embarass yourself (Score:5, Insightful)
You'd think advertisers would have learned by now how to avoid embarassing themselves. Clearly, they have not. Every year there are advertisements that fail to account for cultural values, context, or placement, and wind up sending an unintended message. Sometimes it's hilarious, sometimes its tragic. You've all seen the jars of Gerber baby food, right? The one with the big baby face on the front? Turns out when they first tried to sell it in rural segments of Africa, it wouldn't sell -- like at all. Turns out that the majority of the population in those markets is illiterate and so the products contained pictures of what was inside the jars and boxes. Well, the locals thought Gerber was selling, achem... baby. Needless to say, the packaging was updated shortly thereafter.
Here's the problem with advertisements where people are aware they are being targetted: What if the machine makes a mistake? What if it identifies the 18 year old male who's captain of the football team with a couple of his female friends and the machine decides that there are three females in the party instead of two, and spits out an advertisement for tampons or makeup. Perhaps even doing an impromptu photoshop with their faces and a "before and after" shot, with directions to the nearest makeup counter? Well, he might need some coverup then... To hide his suddenly very flushed appearance.
The problem with mechanical identification of any physical trait in a human being is that it won't ever be 100%, because the meanings associated with those traits are context-dependent. That is to say, the correlations are the problem, and it's true whether it's a matter of sex, race, or age... And when people are aware they are being targeted by those factors, and especially when its misread, and very especially when others are aware of this -- it can have significant social reprecussions. In marketing, context and placement means a lot -- and the only thing saving people from taking it personally is the very fact that they know it's targeted impersonally. When that changes, marketers are going to be in for a real surprise.
Re:You're going to embarass yourself (Score:5, Funny)
What if it identifies the 18 year old male who's captain of the football team with a couple of his female friends and the machine decides that there are three females in the party instead of two, and spits out an advertisement for tampons or makeup.
What if that happens? Uhhh... it shows and ad for tampons or makeup. Hardly the end of the word. What is this dreamy football captain and his companions doing looking at the advertisement, anyway? Surely there's sodomy to be had, which is a greater priority than some electronic billboard.
Parent
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What if that happens? Uhhh... it shows and ad for tampons or makeup. Hardly the end of the word. What is this dreamy football captain and his companions doing looking at the advertisement, anyway? Surely there's sodomy to be had, which is a greater priority than some electronic billboard.
Yeah. Well, they're never content with just a display device. It'll have sound too. And if that doesn't work, it'll vibrate and have smoke come out of it too. Marketing is fighting a losing battle and so it is becoming ever-more aggressive in how it infiltrates our lives and tries to distinguish itself from all the other marketing. And the close proximity of these things means that after the average person passes them a few times, they'll be aware of the fact that they're being targeted specifically, becaus
Re: (Score:2)
Marketing is fighting a losing battle
Say what? Marketing is doing just fine... probably better than ever.
Re: (Score:2)
Say what? Marketing is doing just fine... probably better than ever.
Which explains why the most popular addon for Firefox is "Adblock Plus" and number 5 is "NoScript". A strange coincidence that Firefox' popularity went through the roof after this was released. Also, have you noticed how many people have switched to Netflix and dropped their cable TV subscription? Yet strangely, what are the top-rented items on Netflix? TV shows... on DVD. Why do you suppose that is? Could it be because they can skip the 20 minutes of advertisements per hour and the annoying popups every 3
Hey there smuggy know-it-all (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.snopes.com/business/market/babyfood.asp [snopes.com]
They think they're so smart... (Score:4, Funny)
What happens when the midget convention comes into town, huh? What do you do THEN, smart guy? WHAT DO YOU DO THEN?
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Time to modify my tinfoil hat... (Score:2, Funny)
Sorta Cool (Score:3, Insightful)
Truth is, a little harmless digital stereotyping never hurt anybody. I look forward to living in a future where the advertisements on the street are video screens and they adapt their message to who they think is walking by. That's the kind of world people wrote about in science fiction decades ago, or put into movies like Blade Runner. This kind of thing has been dreamed about for decades, and thanks to the hard work of thousands of people, is finally possible.
Sure, it's not really that "useful" a technological improvement...kind of evil almost...but it sure is cool.
Re:Sorta Cool (Score:5, Insightful)
Truth is, a little harmless digital stereotyping never hurt anybody. I look forward to living in a future where the advertisements on the street are video screens and they adapt their message to who they think is walking by.
A proud whore.
I look forward to a future where public spaces aren't blemished by the vulgarity of advertising, arenas and stadiums bear the name of the city and not the name of a corporation, bus benches are attractive places to sit, the notion of wearing clothing and accessories adorned with corporate logos is dismissed as absurd, and all of us can celebrate with pride the world we've made for ourselves.
Foolish notions? Perhaps. But the way I see it, better to aspire to something than wallow in the shamelessness of an idiocracy... oh, fuck it. Enjoy your electrolytes.
Parent
Advertisements directed towards children = banned (Score:4, Interesting)
In Norway, advertisements directed towards children are banned on TV and radio. Unfortunately this is being circumvented by basing the broadcasting network abroad.
I just hope this type of advertising can be dealth with by modifying the laws. If not, maby a big hammer will do the trick.
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Re: (Score:2)
If not, maby a big hammer will do the trick.
Like the Apple 1984 ads?
Re: (Score:2)
The main argument I've seen is that it's a form of brainwashing, since young children are much more impressionable and susceptible to persuasion than older people are. Not specifically that it will force their parents to buy them a particular toy, but that it allows companies to try to mold future consumers to their liking.
Of course, even for adults advertising largely attempts to perform that sort of function---the idea that advertisements are good-faith attempts to inform potentially interested customers
Muslim version? (Score:2)
So I guess they won't be marketing this in fundamentalist Islamic countries where the gals wear burqas?
Gaming the system. (Score:2, Insightful)
One problem that i see, is that it can be very easy to game the system.
Let's say that the advertisers pay a fixed monthly payment. If I were an advertiser and my advertisement were run every time that three women are in front of the screen... well, I'd hire three actresses so that they stay in from of the screen: my ad would be shown lots of times, and adds of my competitors would never be shown.
If, on the contrary, the advertisers have to pay for each time his ad is shown, and my competitor's ad is sh
You must have money to waste. . . (Score:2)
"Let's say that the advertisers pay a fixed monthly payment. If I were an advertiser and my advertisement were run every time that three women are in front of the screen... well, I'd hire three actresses. . ."
Wow, that sounds expensive. Ok, here's an idea - if you want your ad shown continuously, just hire a traditional billboard/sign? You're really making things too complicated. The point of such an advertising system is to, on the one hand, reduce costs for you as the advertising client, while increasing
I'm a white guy with a shaved head. (Score:5, Funny)
I really don't want this thing advertising bed sheets, wrestling, ammo and tractor pulls to me every time I walk by.
Looks good on paper... (Score:3, Funny)
But while this may look good on paper... remember: they will have to find something to replace those ads... and being a male between the ages of 18 and dead, you can be sure that every commercial break will be like Spike TV at 3am... An endless loop of Girls Gone Wild commercials occasionally separated by advertisements for erectile dysfunction prescriptions and the latest, amazing super-duper nutritional supplement that will help you drop 50 lbs of fat in 2 days, without exercising or changing your diet*!
* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or actually do anything at all besides separate you from your money, fatty!
How to fool them (Score:4, Funny)
Wear a football top and a skirt.
Get your fancy dress party guests to walk by the signs.
Will it recognise the gender of naked people?
Dress as an alien (outer space alien, not a mere foreigner).
Suggest that a band of midgets and dwarfs stand in front of the sign.
Dress up in a kilt.
Gay pride parade.
Anyone and any uniform - especially monks and nuns (what do you sell someone who has taken a vow of poverty?)