On Saturday 20 August 2005 16:38, Mikkel Møldrup-Lakjer wrote:
> "Roy Schestowitz" <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i en meddelelse
> news:de42vu$2k2l$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> Anyway, on to my main point: is the A9 toolbar spyware? I am currently
>> experimenting with it and it is really hard to judge by the network
>> traffic. Since A9 and Alexa are 'united', does that imply that A9 will
>> spy on users and send data to Alexa in order to improve their statistical
>> figures?
>
> ... or send data to Amazon.com about my interests in order to recommend me
> some books, dvd's ect.?
>
> Mikkel
They are patenting that c**p in an effort to 'invent' and protect the very
notion of user history.
Having played about with the A9 bar for a few days, I can point out the
following:
* Browser is crippled quite badly by the toolbar. Each page load registers a
log entry on a remote server.
* Secure pages are not being logged
* Logging can be disabled
* Using surf logs, bookmarks are built automatically which reflect on the
user's interests. A9/Amazon added that simple inference/related sites
feature.
* On demand, a file called siteinfo.xml is requested from the top-level
directory of the site (even if it does not exist, hence error is flagged in
Webmaster's log). This file contains main links and hierarchical menus. It
has the potential of becoming a nice feature. It is as if each site has a
menu of its own at browser-level, somewhat like Firefox live bookmarks.
That menu is controlled by the site owner who builds that menu using simple
XML:
http://a9.com/-/company/help/siteinfo/index.jsp
* Highlighting tool, diary tool for each Web page and simplification of SERP
navigation are included as well
* Discounts at Amazon.com for using the search bar (i.e. giving consent to
spying)
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz Useless fact: There are five regular polyhedra
http://Schestowitz.com
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