Social Commerce

Social media has greatly helped the buying process. Many brands have utilized the power of social media's "word of mouth". The recommendation, share and like modules have helped consumers identify options from their peers. Social media has helped leverage e-commerce.

The term social commerce was born from the integration of social networking sites and e-commerce platforms. True social commerce must also include user generated content platforms from its users.

In today's web 2.o landscape user's input on products is indispensable. Online users are prosumers(consumer and producer). They collaborate in the production process via there input and criticism. The production process has shifted from the producer to the consumer.


Social Media and e-Commerce Go Hand in Hand
http://www.adotas.com/2010/02/social-media-and-e-commerce-go-hand-in-hand/


Social Media and E-Commerce Converging: Report
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/1701003/social-media-e-commerce-converging-report

Behavioral Targeting... No So Perfect

Although cliche, life is not always what it seems. So is behavioral targeting. It is not 100 percent solid for both the advertiser or the user.

From the advertisers perspective tracking is not completely accurate. The main reason being that a cookie might register on a shared family computer. The computer could have multiple users: 50-year old husband, 42-year old wife, 17-year old daughter, and a 10-year old boy. If the son of the household is the one whom mostly spends time online computer gaming, that specific browser will register as a young segment. All the ad impressions will not attract any clicks from any of the other family members for they will not be relevant. The data is not personally identifiable.

The user is the one whom pays the highest price for behavioral targeting. The trade off is relevant ads for personal privacy. For behavioral ads can track your browsing patterns, Facebook likes and even your most recent tweets. The collection of all this data registers users into a correspondent segment.

Currently there is no legislation protecting users right to privacy. The only options users have is the option to opt out from tracking. So basically it is the online advertising duty to inform and educate prospect customers on their options.

Other Resources:
Ad Industry Attempts to Self-Regulate Behavioral Advertising
http://www.fastcompany.com/1692936/ad-industry-self-regulates-behavioral-advertising

Behavioral targeting: the user-scale advertising
http://www.youngdigitallab.net/social-media/behavioral-advertising-the-user-scale-advertising/