![infoneer-pulse:
Google paying users to track 100% of their Web usage via little black box
Google is working to collect information about Internet users that it can’t get from just monitoring its own browser, services, and Android devices. The company has set up a new program called Screenwise, which offers money to users who install a black box on their home network to “measure Internet use.” A smaller amount of money will go to those who install a browser extension on their computers that will do the same thing.
Google quietly started up the Screenwise data collection program Tuesday night, taking the e-mail addresses of people who are interested in “add[ing] a browser extension that will share with Google the sites you visit and how you use them.” For their participation, Google offers the extension users a $5 Amazon gift card for signing up and another $5 gift card for every three months they stay with the program. Less publicly, Google also started looking for people who would install a piece of hardware on their network to do more extensive monitoring.
» via ars technica
What’s your privacy worth?](http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz3qlnKR3I1qzsn48o1_500.png)
Thoughts expressed in this post are derived from conversations with Julie Fredrickson and Greg Battle.
As you all have seen, Tumblr recently began playing with the idea of publishers paying $1 to highlight posts in the stream. As I said then, I’m glad Tumblr is experimenting, and every time a community-based site makes changes, it always runs the risk of backlash, so kudos to them for having the fortitude to try new things.
With that said, who is it for? Regular users who tumble for fun about cats and last night’s dinner? Brands like Newsweek and Vogue? The $1 price points to “it’s for everyone” but the nature of announcements & promotions is dominated by organizations with an agenda. Given the desire of the latter group, I’d make them the focus.
If we were to start from scratch and think about how organizations could best promote their posts while maintaining the integrity of the Tumblr eco-system, I think we should take a page from Facebook’s Sponsored Stories. In the right rail of the dashboard, underneath (or instead of) the Radar, Tumblr should show a post by someone you already follow if they’ve paid to have their post featured there. The purpose is to reinforce the message of the post in case you missed it or forgot about it. Advertisers can pay more for more impressions, which is exactly what they want. Users don’t feel like they are being spammed, because they only see posts by people they already choose to follow. And Tumblr finally gets to monetize what they have in abundance - dashboard page views (hundreds of millions every day).
