My hat is off to Kara and Walt for warning readers of All Things Digital about tracking cookies on their site. Today, it seems that surfing the web is akin to wading naked into a mosquito-infested swamp.  You can’t avoid getting stung, but you have no choice– your home is in the middle of this swamp.  And it wasn’t because you decided to build your house in the swamp– the mosquitos saw where you lived and decided to locate where you are for convenience.

Not all tracking cookies are evil, but how is the consumer to know who is doing what with your data and where you’ve been?  Usually, it’s a good thing, such as remembering that you’ve come to a place before.  Sometimes it’s questionable, such as retargeting or remarketing, where you are followed around the web just because you went to a particular site. And sometimes it is just outright unethical, such as flash cookies (which aren’t even cookies), and is nearly impossible to be removed. With new technology comes new opportunities for advertising in ways that even industry pioneers haven’t considered yet– and certainly not regulators.  Check out what Roger McNamee has to say, for example. If you’re an advertiser, what are you doing about this?  If you’re a consumer, what do you think, given there isn’t much you can do?

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other organizations that have many locations. He has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs because of his partnership with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Companies like GoDaddy, Fiverr, onlinejobs.ph, 7 Figure Agency, and Vendasta partner with him to create training and certifications. Dennis created the Dollar a Day Strategy for local service businesses to enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring. He's coaching young adult agency owners who serve plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians in conjunction with leaders in these industries. Mr. Yu believes that there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers need to be certified and licensed. His Content Factory training and dashboards are used by thousands of practitioners.

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