1. Part of me wants to say that Google and Yahoo should be able to produce different search results for different countries because they should have the right to provide their services as they feel is necessary because it is their free service that they are giving away. The other part of me would say that it does not seem right that they have so much power over what information different people get. They seem to have a lot of power over what people believe by providing different search results to different cultures.
2. I think that the grocery loyalty cards are a fantastic marketing idea for businesses. I think that by collecting all of the data as to what their consumers are buying and then tailoring marketing right to the individual is brilliant. The cards save the consumer a few bucks every time they make a purchase, and it provides a business to analyze the buying trends of their customers. If you want to keep what you buy more of a secret, then just choose to not save a few bucks and don't use your loyalty card. I think that it is pretty obvious that you will be sacrificing something by using a loyalty card. A business wouldn't just give those away because they are "nice." They give them away so that they can have more access to your spending trends and try to persuade you and give you incentives to buy more from them. I do not think that there is any problem with grocery loyalty cards. I think that there might be a problem with people signing up for them without know what exactly they are signing for.
I am not sure anyone currently cares what I buy. But if someday the store shared with my insurance provider that I buy candy on the weekend, and that I've developed a condition because of poor eating, that might concern me - then.
ReplyDeleteI think the forfeit of information about what I buy is worth a discount. But I'd also like a guarantee that the information is kept secure, or at least that they could share it with me to help me budget my weekly spending.