An FTC investigation into nine big data brokers shows how the companies use inferences to create categories like "Urban Scramble" and "Expectant Parent."…
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First rule of DevOps fight club, don’t talk about DevOps fight club
A cadre of DevOps experts will gather later this week at an undisclosed location in Northern California. The goal: To hash out issues they see in their own shops, to compare notes on problems and talk in a way that they cannot in vendor-driven conferences.…
Read MoreCan Personyze unlock big data for small businesses?
Israeli startup Personyze is linking with one of the web’s most controversial data collection companies, Rapleaf, to provide new tools for website owners. Can its attempt to help ordinary website owners turn information into actions really solve the big data puzzle?…
Read MoreHandicapping Facebook’s Next Billion-Dollar Business(es)
Amidst reports that it was having trouble unloading $1 billion worth of shares at a very rich valuation, Facebook last week started testing its first home-grown social commerce product, Facebook Deals. Already facing stiff competition from Groupon and LivingSocial, will Deals be Facebook’s next billion-dollar business? Competitors, marketers and developers hoping to leverage the Facebook platform need to figure out how Facebook will continue to grow.…
Read MorePrivacy Legislation’s Potential Impact on Online Media
Because the Kerry-McCain online privacy bill is watered down relative to prior proposals, it will face less industry resistance, and is more likely to be passed this year. That has far-reaching implications for online advertising and targeting.…
Read MoreSocial CRM Startup Etacts Shutting Down
ETacts, one of the many social CRM companies, is shutting down, according to an email sent out to its users. ETacts competes with the likes of Rapportive and Gist. The company, which was incubated by YCombinator had raised $650,000 from angel investors earlier this year.…
Read MoreWhat Rapleaf Knows About You: WSJ Reports
Pingg, About.com, picture service TwitPic, Flixster, Plixi.com are some of the dozens of startups that are using San Francisco-based Rapleaf and inadvertently helping the company build accurate dossiers on many of us. The Wall Street Journal investigation shows Rapleaf knows a whole lot about you.…
Read MoreRapleaf’s Web: How You Are Profiled on the Web
With nearly 400 million consumer profiles, Rapleaf is a key data provider to everyone from banks, retailers, anti-fraud firms and a whole lot of startups. Whichever way you look at it, Rapleaf is part of any Internet privacy conversation that affects you.…
Read MoreRapleaf and the Facebook Privacy Ruckus
In the analog world of J.Crew catalogs and credit card purchases, credit bureaus like Experian built profiles on most of us. In the digital world, a new kind of digital data aggregator is spreading its tentacles on the web. Rapleaf is one of them.…
Read MoreHow to Work The Room 4.0: Getting "Man-Charm"
Editor’s Note: This is the latest installment in Larry Chiang’s series on “What They Don’t Teach You At Stanford Business School.” (He’s…
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