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Posted By: Jim Bonfield, Sacramento - Local Online Advertising Specialist

AlmondNet Patents Plan To Target Consumers Based On Search History

by Ross Fadner

(Submitted by Professor Matt Havercamp)

Contextual ad network AlmondNet announced Thursday that it has patented a technology that allows marketers to target consumers based on their search activity even after they have left the search engine's site.

The new service, dubbed "post-search," gathers search data through partnerships with companies that have access to Web users' search history. These could be Internet service providers, software companies that track user search activity, or the search providers themselves.

This tracking process is cookie-based; AlmondNet said its partners do not provide the company with access to personally identifiable information. AlmondNet retains individual behavior data for 30 days, but does not aggregate it into more specific profiles. AlmondNet then sells the search data to advertisers.

From MediaPost
Friday, Jan 28, 2005