DoubleClick ®  

Server List: See Stephen Martin's Hosts File List (Doubleclick (Netgravity) Group)

About DoubleClick: doubleclick.net - www.doubleclick.net - doubleclick.com - www.doubleclick.com

DoubleClick is an online advertising behemoth that "...help[s] advertisers and publishers unleash the power of the Web for branding, selling products, and building relationships with customers."

Because of DoubleClick's technology partnering with such companies as Macromedia, Unicast, and RealNetworks, blocking DoubleClick ads and data collection can require multiple solutions. Information on DoubleClick's Technology Partners is included in the "Read More" page for the DoubleClick Adserver component.

On October 27, 1999, NetGravity merged with DoubleClick.

Links & News  

CDT (Center For Democracy And Technology): www.cdt.org/testimony/000225ftcdcstatement.shtml carries the testimony against DoubleClick's practices submitted to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) on Feb 29, 2000.

Commission Junction's CJ TV (Commission Junction is another advertising site profiled separately on this site) has a Video Interview with the Rothken Law Firm. Rothken filed the first Internet Consumer Privacy lawsuit against DoubleClick. The lawsuit doesn't involve money. The clients just want DoubleClick to cease and desist from invading their privacy. The interview is an interesting presentation of profiling along with general info about cookies and tracking and DoubleClick. How profiling information collected now could be used in the future for despicable purposes is also discussed.

The video can be viewed in either Real Player or Windows Media Player. To choose player and connection speed, enter through www.cjtv.com/now.html#2. If you're using Real Player with a 56K dialup connection, try this direct link (the one I used): tm.intervu.net/template/s3/commiss/real/epi2/r56.ram.

EPIC (The Electronic Privacy Information Center): www.epic.org/privacy/doubletrouble/ "DoubleTrouble" page has information on DoubleClick's practices along with a list of links to news stories that include information on the Abacus merge. In 1999, EPIC filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission regarding DoubleClick's unfair and deceptive business practices.

JunkBusters: www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/new.html#DCLK "The Story of DoubleClick on Privacy" has information on the DoubleClick/Abacus Database merge (currently on hold), what's been called the "DoubleClick Doublecross," and many links to DoubleClick articles.

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DoubleClick Web Sites  

Privacy Choices www.privacychoices.org - NetDeals.com www.NetDeals.com - Internet @ddress.finder www.IAF.net

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Business Components  

The DoubleClick Network™ is a "network of networks" that's divided into seven categories containing sub-categories. "With 490 publishers represented globally, our reach is astronomical." The DoubleClick Network includes "...over 750 sites in 17 International Networks." Read more about The DoubleClick Network, Targeting Criteria, and AltaVista's "DoubleClick Select" status...

DoubleClick DART™ is DoubleClick's proprietary targeting technology. "DART matches advertiser-selected target profiles with individual user profiles and delivers an appropriately targeted ad. Advertisers also have access to online reporting which maps out an ad's response rates and effectiveness in multiple areas." Read more about DoubleClick DART and DoubleClick DataBank...

DoubleClick AdServer™ is the "...complete ad management software solution. If you want to leverage an expert in-house technical team that can take advantage of a flexible, customizable, expandable system, giving you complete and total control, then DoubleClick AdServer is the choice for you." Read more about DoubleClick AdServer and DoubleClick's Technology Partners...

DoubleClick Local™ www.doubleclick.net:8080/advertisers/network/local/default.htm "...allows advertisers to precisely target their advertisements to the states, zip codes and area numbers in which they do business."

DoubleClick Global™ www.doubleclick.net:8080/advertisers/network/global/default.htm allows advertisers to "...reach users in over 80 countries with one buy, and one contact. Campaigns can run on U.S., Japanese, and Canadian Web sites with only one purchase. DoubleClick Global even lets advertisers target users of particular countries regardless of the site the user is on."

DoubleClick Boomerang™ www.doubleclick.net:8080/advertisers/network/boomerang/ is a "...one-to-one targeting solution that allows advertisers to re-market to their prospects and customers. With this powerful new capability, you can now target customized lists of your prospects and customers based on their activity on your site and encourage them to come back to your site."

"Boomerang reaches precisely the individuals who have displayed an explicit interest in your products and services. And now you can target them outside of your own site, across the DoubleClick Network's premium sites. [...] In addition to Web behavior, off-line purchase history data and demographic data can be appended to create lists for the most precisely targeted campaigns."

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Privacy Information  

Privacy Policy: www.doubleclick.net/privacy_policy/

"We [...] recommend that you review this Privacy Statement periodically, as DoubleClick may update it from time to time." DoubleClick pointed to this statement when they tried to slip the Abacus merge through quietly, saying they'd noted the merge in an change to their Privacy Policy.

To date, DoubleClick has refused to identify Abacus Alliance members. When giving personal information on any website, users have no way of knowing whether or not it will wind up in the Abacus Online Database.

DoubleClick collects information through cookies and clickstream data and states that no personally identifiable information is collected. "However, as described in "Abacus Alliance" and "Information Collected by DoubleClick's Web Sites" below, non-personally identifiable information collected by DoubleClick in the course of ad delivery can be associated with a user's personally identifiable information if that user has agreed to receive personally-tailored ads."

"Name and address information volunteered by a user on an Abacus Alliance Website is associated by Abacus through the use of a match code and the DoubleClick cookie with other information about that individual. Information in the Abacus Online Database includes the user's name, address, retail, catalog and online purchase history, and demographic data."

"The database also includes the user's non-personally-identifiable information collected by Web sites and other businesses with which DoubleClick does business. Unless specifically disclosed to the contrary in a Web site's privacy policy, most non-personally-identifiable information collected by DoubleClick from Web sites on the DoubleClick Network is included in the Abacus Online database."

"The Web sites owned or controlled by DoubleClick, such as www.NetDeals.com and www.IAF.net may ask for and collect personally-identifiable information. DoubleClick is committed to providing meaningful notice and choice to users before any personally-identifiable information is submitted to us."

Opt-Out Option: An opt-out cookie is available at www.doubleclick.net/optout/default.asp. Using this opt-out cookie is not recommended. Other methods such as hosts and ad and cookie blockers are much more effective. The following was found using Netscape 6, but DoubleClick's failure to fix this "flaw" typifies their attitude towards users:

Interhack: DoubleClick Opt Out Protocol Failure = Opt In  www.interhack.net/pubs/dc-proto-fail/ May 15, 2000: "...describes an implementation flaw in DoubleClick's handling of cookies sent from the browser [...] that could result in the consumer being tracked without any knowledge of this activity, contrary to the consumers explicit action of opting out."

Privacy Contact: [email protected]

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Abacus Online  

Abacus Online ® www.doubleclick.net:8080/advertisers/abacus/ is a "...division of DoubleClick, formed by DoubleClick's merger with Abacus Direct. We provide advertising and research solutions for online marketers and publishers that predict, target and reach responsive online customers." Their "innovative database list and research solutions" combine:

"Comprehensive data from Internet clickstream, online transactions and consumer transactional information from the Abacus Alliance database which is statistically analyzed to predict the most responsive customers"

"Internet media (banner ads and e-mail) and Technology (using our DART system for pinpoint delivery and tracking) to deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time."

"The Abacus Online Alliance is a confidential membership group of online marketers and publishers, who contribute their registered customer data to a cooperative database managed by Abacus Online, in exchange for access to our exclusive products and services."

"This cooperative approach, pioneered by Abacus Direct, revolutionized the consumer catalog industry and created the most comprehensive buyer database nationwide, an unparalleled resource for customer information. Abacus Online applies the same approach to the online world to realize the promise of one to one marketing online."

Abacus Online Alliance provides members with "cost-effective list services and research for targeted advertising campaigns." These are used to:

"Generate Responsive New Customers through our Prospecting services"

"Rank and Qualify Existing Customers with our Housefile services"

"Identify Customer Trends & Behaviors to compete more effectively using our Marketing Insight Research reports."

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DARTmail  

DARTmail™ www.doubleclick.net:8080/advertisers/dartmail/ "...is a suite of email marketing products [...] designed to provide marketers with highly integrated marketing and advertising solutions that help to build profitable long-term customer relationships." DARTmail components include:

DARTmail Prospect™ helps clients "Find new customers by accessing millions of opt-in lists from multiple sources. [...] DARTmail Prospect offers a way for Publishers to earn significant incremental revenue by providing users with the ability to receive valuable third party marketing offers. The more information you provide the advertisers, the more money you can earn."

"We will manage, market, and rent access to your lists to advertisers trying to reach your customers. All you have to do is help us to reach your users. We are currently brokering lists from other opt-in email companies as well as renting our own lists thus enabling you to reach all available names with one point of contact."

DARTmail Publisher™ can "...serve targeted ads into your newsletters and deliver the email to your subscribers or customers. If you ask your customers a few questions, you can use Publisher to create even more customized newsletters tailored around their interests. [...] If you have demographics on customers, you can offer your advertiser valuable demographic targeting."

DARTmail Campaign Manager™ "...enables you to send targeted promotional offers to your customers to generate repeat business based on information that you have collected about your customers."

Last Reviewed: Aug 06-00

Quoted excerpts are © DoubleClick unless otherwise noted.

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