The two largest credit-card networks, Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., are pushing into a new business: using what they know about people's credit-card purchases for targeting them with ads online.
全球最大的两家信用卡公司Visa Inc.和万事达卡(MasterCard Inc.)正在向一项新业务挺进：通过它们对消费者刷卡购物行为的了解，向这些消费者定向投放在线广告。
Their plans, if implemented, would represent not only a technological feat -- tying people's Internet lives with shopping activities -- but also an erosion of the idea of anonymity on the Web. It's an effort by the two companies to profit by selling access to the insights they gather about people with every credit-card transaction.
这些计划如果付诸实施，将不仅是技术上的成就──把人们的网上生活与实际消费活动捆绑在一起，同时也是对网络匿名概念的侵蚀。两家公司实际上是希望利用每一笔信用卡交易形成对消费者个人的深入了解，然后通过出售获得这些信息的权利挣钱。
The technology is still evolving. According to ad executives briefed on some of the ideas, a holy grail would be to show, for instance, a weight-loss ad to a person who just swiped their card at a fast-food chain -- then track whether that person bought the advertised products. Currently, Web ads generally are based on a person's online behavior but not information tied to his or her identity or activities in the brick-and-mortar world.
这项技术还在发展中。据获知了部分这些想法的广告业高管说，如果一个人刚刚在连锁快餐店刷了卡，就会向他展示一个减肥广告，然后对这个人是否购买了广告产品进行跟踪。目前，在线广告一般是建立在消费者的网上行为基础上，而不是依据他们在真实生活中的身份或活动信息。
In one particularly futuristic idea, a Visa patentapplication published this year describes incorporating information from DNA databanks, among other personal details, into profiles that could be used to target people online.
一个特别前卫的想法是，今年发布的一款Visa专利应用软件可描述，如何将从DNA数据库中得到的信息及其它个人资料整理成可用作针对在线消费者投放广告的个人介绍。
MasterCard earlier this year proposed an idea to ad executives to link Internet users to information about actual purchase behaviors for ad targeting, according to a MasterCard document and executives at some of the world's largest ad companies who were involved in the talks. 'You are what you buy,' the MasterCard document says.
据万事达卡的一份文件及全球最大广告公司的一些高管透露，万事达公司今年早些时候曾向广告业高管提出一个想法，即把互联网用户与实际购物行为信息相连，实现有针对性的广告投放。这些高管参与了与万事达的商谈。万事达卡的那份文件说，你买了什么，你就是什么。
MasterCard doesn't collect people's names or addresses when processing credit-card transactions. That makes it tricky to directly link people's card activity to their online profiles, ad executives said. The company's document describes its 'extensive experience' linking 'anonymized purchased attributes to consumer names and addresses' with the help of third-party companies.
万事达卡在处理信用卡交易时，不会收集消费者的姓名或住址。广告业高管说，这就很难把人们的用卡活动与其在线介绍直接联系起来。万事达卡公司的文件描述了自己如何在第三方公司的帮助下，利用其丰富经验把匿名购物的种种特点与消费者姓名和住址相联系。
MasterCard's proposal would have unleashed detailed insight into people's lives that is largely not availableelsewhere. 'There is a lot of data out there, but there is not a lot of data based on actual purchase transactions,' said Susan Grossman, group head of media solutions at MasterCard Advisors, in an August interview. 'We are taking it a level deeper. . .it is a much more precise targeting mechanism.'
万事达卡的计划若能实现，有关人们生活的更详细信息将会得以释放，而这些信息在其他地方大都难以获得。万事达卡顾问公司(MasterCard Advisors)媒体解决方案负责人格罗斯曼(Susan Grossman)今年8月接受采访时说，在如今的海量数据中，基于实际购物交易的数据却不是很多；我们使它更深一层......这是一种更加精确的定向机制。
MasterCard, which confirms its document was shared with at least four companies, now says it has 'put aside' that idea because of restrictions over how financial-services companies can use customer data. The company says the document was created in April for 'exploratory conversations.'
万事达卡如今说，由于对金融服务公司使用客户数据的限制，该公司已经将这一想法搁置一边。该公司说，文件是在4月份为"试探性会谈"创建的。万事达卡证实说，该公司曾与至少四家公司分享了文件。
It now is pursuing a plan to sell marketers an analysis of anonymous, aggregated data sorted into marketing 'segments,' such as people with a high propensity to be interested in international travel. MasterCard said its plan is 'completely new to the industry' and that it still is working through the details of how it will work.
该公司目前进行的计划是向营销者出售对分成不同营销"类别"的批量匿名数据的分析，比如对国际旅游可能有兴趣的人。万事达卡说，它的计划对该行业来说是一种全新的理念，该公司仍在研究计划的细节。
Visa is also currently pitching the ability to use cardholders' anonymous buying histories, in aggregate, to tailor the ads people see online, according to an ad executive who discussed the plan with a Visa official recently. That would let advertisers, for instance, show cat-grooming offers to people in one area, and dog-grooming ads to people somewhere else, based on the group buying behavior in the areas as a whole, the ad executive said.
据一位最近与Visa管理人士讨论过该计划的广告业高管说，Visa目前也在兜售对持卡人匿名购物历史记录批量数据的使用，这有利于广告客户定制在线广告。这位广告业高管说，比如，这使广告客户可以根据一个地区的整体购物行为，向一个地区的人们打宠物猫美容产品广告，而向另一个地区的人们打宠物狗美容产品广告。
According a Visa patentapplication published in April, the company sees potential to use a wide array of personal details to create profiles that could be used for ad targeting well beyond shopping details. It describes the possibility of also using 'information from social network websites, information from credit bureaus, information from search engines, information about insurance claims, information from DNA databanks,' and other sources.
据Visa今年4月公布的一份专利申请显示，该公司认为有可能利用各类个人具体资料创建更全面的个人信息介绍，进而用于各种广告，而不止是针对购物细节的广告。该公司还谈到可能利用来自社交网站、信用机构和搜索引擎的信息、保险理赔信息、从DNA数据库获取的信息以及来自其他来源的信息。
Both companies say their plans are preliminary. A spokeswoman said in a statement that Visa 'is continuously assessing its strategies including ways trend data could help create more effective online advertising.' She said the company doesn't discuss 'Visa's intellectual-property strategies.'
这两家公司都说，他们的计划仍处于初步阶段。Visa发言人在声明中说，该公司在不断评估战略，包括使用趋势数据帮助制作更有效的在线广告的方法。她说，Visa不会讨论公司的知识产权战略。
Emily Steel
Emily Steel
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