Data mining or reality mining, if your prefer, is going to be one of the biggest trends in the near future. This fascinating article provides an excellent overview of how smart retailers will start using the “digital crumbs” from anonymous cellphone signals to track the location and behavior of people. For example, in a manner that doesn’t violate anyones personal privacy, advertisers will soon know exactly how many people walk by a certain ad at 2:15pm on a Saturday afternoon. This will allow the owners of billboards to price their spaces accordingly.
Reality mining companies will be able to determine not only which stores are most frequently visited in a mall but also which combinations of stores these people travel to. This, in turn, will allow these stores to start putting together clever joint ad campaigns to further exploit these findings.
