Is ‘Do Not Track’ Good or Bad for Print?
All of this seems empowering as a consumer, but what does it mean for people visiting your website? DNT+ blocks companies like Google Analytics and Quantcast, resources most people use to track visits to (and the viability of) their websites.
Opponents of the Do Not Track movement say this can spell the end of the “free” Web, as so many sites are funded by ad revenue. A recent visit to an ad-supported site, MakeUseOf.com, with the DNT plugin installed generated a giant red banner at the top of the displayed page stating:
“It looks like you've got Ad-block enabled. While we respect your decision and choice of plugin, we humbly ask that you add MakeUseOf.com to the ad-block whitelist. Without the revenue generated from advertising, we would be unable to provide this great content free of charge. If everyone ran ad-block, MakeUseOf would be no more.”
It’s something to think about.
Post a Comment to let me know what you think of this issue.
Julie Shaffer is Vice President, Digital Technologies at Printing Industries of America. She heads up the Digital Printing Council (DPC), as well as the Center for Digital Printing Excellence at Printing Industries headquarters in Sewickley, PA. In her position, Julie plays a lead role in developing programs and tools to help members grow their businesses with digital technologies.
Known for her graphic production expertise, Julie has a 20-plus year background in pre-media and print. She is often called upon for training, presentations and to provide on-site consulting throughout the industry on diverse range of topics, including PDF, color management, digital printing, social media and Web-to-print implementation. Julie is co-author of several books, including "The PDF Print Production Guide" (1st, 2nd and 3rd edition), the "Web-to-Print Primer" and the forthcoming "Field Guide to Social Media."
