Phorm delays advertising trials

Phorm has admitted this week that preparations for the first major trial of its controversial advertising technology had taken "longer than originally anticipated".

Some of the UK's largest ISPs, including BT, The Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media have signed up to trials of Phorm's advertising technology and the service is expected to be trialled at the end of the year.

Phorm works by monitoring the sites visited by surfers in order to tailor advertising to individuals. However, it has come in for much criticism from privacy advocates.

An online petition on the Downing Street website calling on the government to prevent ISPs using web-monitoring technology has garnered more than 17,000 signatures.

BT is the first UK ISP expected to roll out Phorm's technology, which has been branded BT Webwise.

BT's head of communication recently confirmed to Web User that it is "still planning on conducting a trial of BT Webwise and we are expecting it to start soon".

"What will be apparent after launch is what a large, complex project this is and how much preparation is required in order to execute flawlessly," said Kent Ertugrul, Phorm's chief executive, explaining the reason for the delay.

For an in-depth look at Phorm and the issues surrounding web-monitoring technology check out Issue 195 of Web User, available in shops now.

www.phorm.com
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/ispphorm
www.btwebwise.com
www.virginmedia.com
www.talktalk.co.uk