ACF: Turning Browsers into Buyers
| Category: Database Marketing | Date: 2001-11-26 |
The Direct Marketing Association calls for controls on automated, collaborative filtering software that tracks Web site behavior and determines what content is suitable for presentation.
NetPerceptions, a marketer of ACF, states that "In one second, collaborative filtering can turn a browser into a buyer, increase order size and bring more buyers back more often. The key is making the right suggestion to the right buyer at the right time - and doing it in real time. This is called suggestive selling, and collaborative filtering is the gold standard for speed, accuracy and ROI."
Whos right? Is Automated Collaborative Filtering (ACF) a curse or a cure for consumers and marketers?
Technologically, ACF is an unprecedented system for the distribution of ideas and the facilitation of contacts between people with similar interests. ACF automates and enhances existing mechanisms of knowledge distribution and dramatically increases their speed and efficiency.
The concept is nothing new. Weve known it as "word of mouth." The new wrinkle is that in this information-heavy Internet age, reliance on human connections for finding exactly what your want has become insufficient.
ACF works by actively pushing information toward us. If youve purchased a book or CD from Amazon.com, for example, youve likely received recommendations on other selections you might like based on the purchase patterns of others who bought the same item. Volia! Youve experienced ACF at work.
Storing knowledge outside the human mind is nothing new either. Libraries have been a repository of knowledge for thousands of years. The emergence of computers as a data storage tool is simply an improvement - albeit an incredible one - over libraries. Computers have an amazing capacity for storage and retrieval, and with systems linked to the Internet, great prowess at filtering and retrieving information and knowledge quickly and efficiently.
Until now, the stumbling block to retrieving useful information was the inability of computers to understand the meaning of the knowledge or judge what data is good and relevant. ACFS provides the solution by performing information searches with human intelligence. It does this by recording peoples opinions on the importance of the various pieces of knowledge and uses these records to improve the results of computer searches.
This work here has already begun with pattern recognition and signal processing techniques and higher-end information-analysis tools. Real-time technology dynamically recommends the documents, data sources, and mutual interest groups that can help individuals with whatever task is at hand. The benefit is that hard-won knowledge and experience gets reinvested instead of reinvented.
ACF makes communications smarter, less intrusive and more desired. Most of us ignore banner ads because theyre not what were looking for. But if ads become relevant - and personal - well pay attention. Web site ads in front of the right visitors equal enhanced click \-through rates fro advertisers and increased as revenues
The patented ACF techniques are key to the amazing success of todays top Internet marketers. These techniques drive the personalized recommendations that increase cross-sells and upsells and deepen customer loyalty with every purchase.
Soon, ACF will be an established information retrieval tool and will make information retrieval systems more intelligent and adaptable for providing common-sense solutions to complex personal challenges.
This is a key function of ACF. Finding people who share interests is important to each of us. Many people abandon the idea of opening their own business because they lack expertise. Others never find new jobs because of mismatched experience or qualifications. ACF systems can aid in these activities by bringing like-minded individuals together.
The first generation of software for managing personal resources is already on the market, mostly on mainframe computers. Net Perception, Engage, Net Genius and other software makers have produced collaborative systems to assist marketers. The next stage is expected to include ACF elements, such as recorded opinions of human experts in various spheres.
With good information protection technologies, people will be able to trust the large servers to store personal data and ensure its security and accessibility from anywhere in the world. These tools will be able to provide the search for personal information on a global or company-wide basis, with consideration of access rights.
For privacy protection, much of the personal interest and occupation data could be stored on ones local computer. The information would spring to life only when the corresponding server recognized the return and started its matching processing on the demand of the user -- not the marketer. This would insure that an individuals interests remain private.
What if there were a system that allowed customers to monitor the business behaviors of lesser -known companies. It stands to reason that the firms would have more incentive to act responsibly.
Direct references to a company and its product quality, coming from independent sources and tied to the interests of particular users, seems far superior to the current method of building product reputation through "branding." Consumers familiarity with the "brand" now often depends more on the size of the company and its advertising budget than the quality of its products. The "socialization" of machines through ACFS seems a far more efficient method of providing direct product experiences and information
than the inefficient use of say, Super-Bowl advertising.
Historically, the advantages of knowledge sharing among individuals and the benefits of groups working together has led to language, thinking and the specialization of labor. Since the dawn of computers, machines - as knowledge carriers - have repeated the early stages of human information sharing. Now, taken to the next level -- beyond marketing and selling of goods and services -- ACFS offers society an opportunity to learn from the greater collective body of experiences.
About the author
:To contact see details below.
DBMarkets@aol.com
http://www.msdbm.com
NetPerceptions, a marketer of ACF, states that "In one second, collaborative filtering can turn a browser into a buyer, increase order size and bring more buyers back more often. The key is making the right suggestion to the right buyer at the right time - and doing it in real time. This is called suggestive selling, and collaborative filtering is the gold standard for speed, accuracy and ROI."
Whos right? Is Automated Collaborative Filtering (ACF) a curse or a cure for consumers and marketers?
Technologically, ACF is an unprecedented system for the distribution of ideas and the facilitation of contacts between people with similar interests. ACF automates and enhances existing mechanisms of knowledge distribution and dramatically increases their speed and efficiency.
The concept is nothing new. Weve known it as "word of mouth." The new wrinkle is that in this information-heavy Internet age, reliance on human connections for finding exactly what your want has become insufficient.
ACF works by actively pushing information toward us. If youve purchased a book or CD from Amazon.com, for example, youve likely received recommendations on other selections you might like based on the purchase patterns of others who bought the same item. Volia! Youve experienced ACF at work.
Storing knowledge outside the human mind is nothing new either. Libraries have been a repository of knowledge for thousands of years. The emergence of computers as a data storage tool is simply an improvement - albeit an incredible one - over libraries. Computers have an amazing capacity for storage and retrieval, and with systems linked to the Internet, great prowess at filtering and retrieving information and knowledge quickly and efficiently.
Until now, the stumbling block to retrieving useful information was the inability of computers to understand the meaning of the knowledge or judge what data is good and relevant. ACFS provides the solution by performing information searches with human intelligence. It does this by recording peoples opinions on the importance of the various pieces of knowledge and uses these records to improve the results of computer searches.
This work here has already begun with pattern recognition and signal processing techniques and higher-end information-analysis tools. Real-time technology dynamically recommends the documents, data sources, and mutual interest groups that can help individuals with whatever task is at hand. The benefit is that hard-won knowledge and experience gets reinvested instead of reinvented.
ACF makes communications smarter, less intrusive and more desired. Most of us ignore banner ads because theyre not what were looking for. But if ads become relevant - and personal - well pay attention. Web site ads in front of the right visitors equal enhanced click \-through rates fro advertisers and increased as revenues
The patented ACF techniques are key to the amazing success of todays top Internet marketers. These techniques drive the personalized recommendations that increase cross-sells and upsells and deepen customer loyalty with every purchase.
Soon, ACF will be an established information retrieval tool and will make information retrieval systems more intelligent and adaptable for providing common-sense solutions to complex personal challenges.
This is a key function of ACF. Finding people who share interests is important to each of us. Many people abandon the idea of opening their own business because they lack expertise. Others never find new jobs because of mismatched experience or qualifications. ACF systems can aid in these activities by bringing like-minded individuals together.
The first generation of software for managing personal resources is already on the market, mostly on mainframe computers. Net Perception, Engage, Net Genius and other software makers have produced collaborative systems to assist marketers. The next stage is expected to include ACF elements, such as recorded opinions of human experts in various spheres.
With good information protection technologies, people will be able to trust the large servers to store personal data and ensure its security and accessibility from anywhere in the world. These tools will be able to provide the search for personal information on a global or company-wide basis, with consideration of access rights.
For privacy protection, much of the personal interest and occupation data could be stored on ones local computer. The information would spring to life only when the corresponding server recognized the return and started its matching processing on the demand of the user -- not the marketer. This would insure that an individuals interests remain private.
What if there were a system that allowed customers to monitor the business behaviors of lesser -known companies. It stands to reason that the firms would have more incentive to act responsibly.
Direct references to a company and its product quality, coming from independent sources and tied to the interests of particular users, seems far superior to the current method of building product reputation through "branding." Consumers familiarity with the "brand" now often depends more on the size of the company and its advertising budget than the quality of its products. The "socialization" of machines through ACFS seems a far more efficient method of providing direct product experiences and information
than the inefficient use of say, Super-Bowl advertising.
Historically, the advantages of knowledge sharing among individuals and the benefits of groups working together has led to language, thinking and the specialization of labor. Since the dawn of computers, machines - as knowledge carriers - have repeated the early stages of human information sharing. Now, taken to the next level -- beyond marketing and selling of goods and services -- ACFS offers society an opportunity to learn from the greater collective body of experiences.
About the author
:To contact see details below.
DBMarkets@aol.com
http://www.msdbm.com
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