How Phorm works
Chances are you’ve heard of Phorm. Controversy has dogged the targeted advertising platform since it was first trialled, rarely a month has gone by when it hasn’t been in the news.
However, details of exactly how Phorm’s system would work had been closely guarded until a recent event in London when the lid was finally lifted on Webwise Discover.
The platform has been running since the end of May in South Korea, “the world’s most advanced internet nation” according to Phorm’s chief executive Kent Ertugrul. However, details of launch partners or even a date when we might see it in this country have not yet been revealed.
Since 2006, Phorm has carried out three trials with BT, one of which it later emerged had been conducted in secret. BT is rumoured to be the ISP that Webwise Discover will first be run by, with previous trials having used the ‘Webwise’ moniker.
Other ISPs who are thought to have brokered a deal with Phorm include Virgin Media and TalkTalk, who after BT are the largest broadband providers in the UK. However, Orange appeared to rule out any kind of collaboration with Phorm last year, seemingly sensitive to the concerns of privacy advocates.
How does Webwise work?
Phorm's system is designed to provide not only relevant advertising to a consumer but related content as well. In fact, the initial focus is on providing surfers with a list of content relevant to what they have been looking at at the time or previously, rather than adverts.
Webwise Discover, from a surfer's point of view, is essentially designed to make interesting content easily available in just one click, rather than the surfer having to go searching for it.
It will be an opt-in service, though Phorm’s Ertugrul did concede that this would actually be the ISP's decision. However, it said all the providers it had been in discussions with were firmly in favour of an opt-in rather than opt-out system. If your ISP has signed up to use the Webwise platform, you will initially be presented with a screen asking you if you would like to opt in to the service. After you have made the initial decision to opt in, you can switch Webwise Discover on or off at any time.
If you do opt in, every time you visit the site of one of Phorm's partners, you will see a Webwise widget. In this, you will see a list of articles related to not only what you are looking at at that moment, but also what you've been looking at previously. For example, if you visited a sports website and read a story about the England cricket team, then visited another site to read about Amy Winehouse, you would see stories relating to cricket, music and celebrities in the widget. Some categories of content, however, including medical and adult content, will not be registered by the system.
You can also access what is essentially a Webwise dashboard - here you'll find a list of the kind of topics and content categories you've looked at regularly and recently. There is also a tag cloud-type feature that shows you quickly what type of thing you've been looking at and how often, which will lead you to more content in these area when you click on it.
