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How are people finding your web site? Who knows. Just because you own a web site doesn't make you a marketer or even looking to turn a profit. Owning a web si

How are people finding your web site? Who knows. Just because you own a web site doesn't make you a marketer or even looking to turn a profit. Owning a web site also doesn't give you any right to know how people are finding your site without you having to ask them to volunteer the information. That's what businesses in the real world do: they ask you, and you choose to tell them or not.

vdaniuk 13y ago
The right to know is codified in the HTTP spec.
- DougWebb 13y ago
  The referrer header has always been optional, and nothing governs the specifics of its contents beyond the host and page. Google never had to provide anything beyond "Google search results page" as the referrer, and probably never should have. After all, the search page is a form, and form submissions generally use POST rather than GET. Both are valid, but if Google used POST then the search terms would never have been part of the url for the results page, and never would have been passed on in the referrer urls.
nemothekid 13y ago
I think comparing it to real world business is disingenuous. When a customer walks into a store there is a whole wealth of information that you can get without asking the customer that would cause an uproar if made visible online.
- DougWebb 13y ago
  Physical appearance... what else? That's hardly a wealth of information, and if the store owner is too obvious about documenting the physical appearance of customers who are just walking around they could get into some trouble. Security cameras are an accepted necessity, for security, but not most people wouldn't accept them for marketing purposes. This brings to mind the ads in Minority Report, that scan your eyeballs to identify you and show you a personalized ad. That's technically possible today, but I doubt you'll see it anytime soon. In a real-world business, you don't get actual information from a visitor until that person buys something and becomes a customer. At that point you'll often get a credit card which gives you a name and relatively unique id, and you'll have the opportunity to interact with the customer and ask questions like "Did you find everything you were looking for?", "What brought you in today?", and "Is there anything else I can help you with?". Depending on the type of store, you can have salespeople wander around and ask visitors those questions too, but they can't be pushy about it without violating the person's privacy and guaranteeing that the visitor won't become a customer.
  - chc 13y ago
    Gender, age, ethnicity, level of interest, general idea of pedigree (e.g. accent and vocabulary), ballpark of income based on accoutrements, possibly information about your family situation (wedding ring, kids), what kind of car you drive, apparent level of sophistication in relation to the business — and in most cases you can casually ask visitors questions without disrupting the transaction.

vdaniuk 13y ago

The right to know is codified in the HTTP spec.

DougWebb 13y ago
The referrer header has always been optional, and nothing governs the specifics of its contents beyond the host and page. Google never had to provide anything beyond "Google search results page" as the referrer, and probably never should have. After all, the search page is a form, and form submissions generally use POST rather than GET. Both are valid, but if Google used POST then the search terms would never have been part of the url for the results page, and never would have been passed on in the referrer urls.

nemothekid 13y ago

I think comparing it to real world business is disingenuous. When a customer walks into a store there is a whole wealth of information that you can get without asking the customer that would cause an uproar if made visible online.

DougWebb 13y ago
Physical appearance... what else? That's hardly a wealth of information, and if the store owner is too obvious about documenting the physical appearance of customers who are just walking around they could get into some trouble. Security cameras are an accepted necessity, for security, but not most people wouldn't accept them for marketing purposes. This brings to mind the ads in Minority Report, that scan your eyeballs to identify you and show you a personalized ad. That's technically possible today, but I doubt you'll see it anytime soon. In a real-world business, you don't get actual information from a visitor until that person buys something and becomes a customer. At that point you'll often get a credit card which gives you a name and relatively unique id, and you'll have the opportunity to interact with the customer and ask questions like "Did you find everything you were looking for?", "What brought you in today?", and "Is there anything else I can help you with?". Depending on the type of store, you can have salespeople wander around and ask visitors those questions too, but they can't be pushy about it without violating the person's privacy and guaranteeing that the visitor won't become a customer.
- chc 13y ago
  Gender, age, ethnicity, level of interest, general idea of pedigree (e.g. accent and vocabulary), ballpark of income based on accoutrements, possibly information about your family situation (wedding ring, kids), what kind of car you drive, apparent level of sophistication in relation to the business — and in most cases you can casually ask visitors questions without disrupting the transaction.