A new search utility called A9 is making waves on the Internet. While you may know Amazon as a bookseller, it has now entered the Web searching business. A9 is presented by Amazon. It is powered by Google and has several unique features. First of all, when you search with A9 you not only get Google search results, you also get results from Google Images, the Internet Movie Database, GuruNet.com, and books at Amazon (of course!). The GuruNet content is especially enticing putting definitions, translations, and background information at your fingertips.
The A9 search is tied to your Amazon account and you must be signed on to access all of the features. The first login, however, will create a cookie on your hard disk so that you will be recognized every time you visit thereafter.
A9 is easily customizable. You can activate screens for books, images, movies, reference, history, and bookmarks. It even has a diary feature. You can also set preferences for language, font size, color, and filters. A9 keeps a history of your Web searches, which is convenient because you can access your history from any computer. A9 allows you to keep searchable notes about any Web page. It will recommend new sites for you to visit based on your history. It will also tell you the last time you visited a Web page. Like Google, A9 has a toolbar that can be used in conjunction with your A9 searching to produce better results. A9 provides some very useful tools to help customize your history and preferences. They also help you organize your favorite Web sites much better than by using the Favorites menu in Internet Explorer. A9 has some cool features. You can get quick word translations, definitions, and information on many subjects. An automatic highlight shows where your search term appears on the results page, and you can drag and drop titles to your bookmarks and search boxes.
Yet, there are security issues. A9 will be storing your personal information to customize the search results. A9 will also keep a history of everything you do in the Web browser. Amazon will obviously be using A9 to promote sales on their Web site. They have already announced a special A9 promotion offering a 1.57% shopping discount to registered A9 users. In case you’re wondering about the unusual amount of the discount, Amazon says it is their way of sharing the pi (In Mathematics, pi = 3.14).
Since Amazon will be using your personal information for commercial purposes, you will want to read the privacy policy, which allows use of this information for marketing purposes.
A9 is a unique and helpful tool. It is also a test to see how much privacy people will give up to be able to use it. Allowing A9 to trace your tracks is an individual decision. Many of us are willing to let grocery stores document every item that we purchase just to receive a discount with the so-called “customer appreciation cards”. Will we be willing to let Amazon and Google track our Web surfing and searching to getter better search results and customization tools?
Computers and technology are changing the world of marketing and advertising. As Tivo and other personal video recorders allow viewers to skip past commercials, marketers are doing more product placement with the television programming itself. They will find a way to make us aware of their products. And we must consider that this might not be such a bad thing.
Many companies like Apple, Microsoft and others are in a position to collect and use personal data. Is such tracking bad or good? If a company knows we are searching for Cuban cigars and they bombard us with cigar offers, is that any better or worse than being assailed by commercials for soap, soda, and slippers as we have been for years on television. There is no doubt that knowing a person’s behavioral and personal profile helps the marketer sell their product. Now comes the big question. Are we willing to allow them access to that information so that we can be presented with products and deals that are personally appealing?
A9 is a test that if accepted, may change the way companies advertise and market their products. If the consumer is willing to allow this, how much farther will companies go? And just where will consumers draw the line between privacy and personalized marketing?
