hackbash

Advertisers want to know if you’re human or machine, while turning you into the latter

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We got hacked. Now we’re fixed.

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Aren’t companies great? Every now and then, when shopping online, no matter how fastidiously you tell them you don’t want to hear from them, they decide that you do. I love getting these emails. They almost invariably contain a codicil explaining that you’re receiving the email because you signed up to receive it. Almost invariably [...]

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Earlier at work I chanced on the latest issue of Marketing Magazine. The second story is a survey, commissioned by the mag, which trumpets: “British Airways’ YouTube videos win public favour“. Which is total cock. The story explains how BA responded to the first of two cabin staff strikes by publishing videos on YouTube which, [...]

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I feel like they know me already.

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Noun: pseudo news; Fact x Importance / SEO

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I don’t know. Seems I’m still feeling pissy about the polluting effect of SEO on content. While Google News seems to have temporarily extinguished Autobulbs Direct, a host of similar sites are cropping up in its results, blabbering on about how the weather could delay prestige car hire customers (people) or how British commercial vehicle [...]

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It used to be that only virus writers and spammers went in for social engineering, but it seems it’s OK for Facebook advertisers. I’ve seen this advert on the site a couple of times now. It’s easy enough to ignore but… Wait, hey. I’ve got two messages? Well I’d better click. The site you get [...]

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At work, we’re writing a couple of motoring news feeds for an insurance client. It’s not journalism red in tooth and claw, but they’re nice people and we quite enjoy trying to give them a couple of properly researched, written and edited news stories every day. To their credit, that’s what they want. We use [...]

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