People Search - News & Views

The Internet revolution has so far failed to deliver effective people search, but there are signs of improvement...

If you pause for a moment to reflect upon the evolution of the Internet several clear phases come into focus. The first phase was the ‘wild west’ experience where anything and everything seemed to be possible – and was probably attempted. Internet development and content caught most regulators off-guard and there were few standards or safeguards available. Access was poor and, if you could get adequate access, it was very difficult to locate anything – let alone anything of real use.

The second phase was the development of some regulation and order which provided the basic buildings blocks, standards, etc required to enable provision of a stable platform upon which eCommerce and eServices could be delivered. Businesses started to see the potential to do away with the ubiquitous shop front and to seek out markets previously out of reach.

Then came the exploitation phase, during which it seemed that any and all information sources could and should be plundered for the common good – a phase which was necessarily accompanied by a flurry of regulatory activity anxious to provide a framework under which people’s privacy might be protected. The volume of information made available over the Internet exploded (wonderfully timed as it was with the availability of huge amounts of inexpensive mass storage) and we witnessed the attrition of search engines that could not make the shift from volume to relevance of search results. Advertisers and marketers probably couldn’t believe the wealth of information available to them and even completely untargetted marketing seemed to offer unending opportunity. Untold wealth appeared to be on offer to any organisation able to come up with a new form of data exploitation.

But it wasn’t nirvana - the slumbering giant of public opinion was woken by the relentless assault on his senses and the game is about to change radically as a result.

We are now witnessing the dawn of a new phase of the Internet in which it has finally been recognised that people do not exist just to feed the needs or marketers and advertisers, and that successful Internet activity must recognise, understand and respect the people it touches. In particular, Internet activity will need to acknowledge that it is but one aspect of peoples’ lives and must find its proper place.

MediaPost's Online Spin, Max Kalehoff put it this way:

“...all of our silo-plagued concepts of media categories -- like Internet, newspaper, television, stuffed into this latest ZenithOptimedia report -- will eventually connect and blur onto the digital grid. That will lead us to adopt models based less on media formats and audience proxies, and more on actual people, content, behaviors, receptivity, relationships and performance.”

At the heart of the Internet future is the concept that individuals are no longer going to tolerate being the simple aggregation of any old information that can be discovered about them. They will demand to exercise control over their digital self in order to see that they are ‘defined’ accurately to the world and that their aspirations, preferences and needs are no longer sacrificed on the altar of commercial activity.

A brave new world is dawning – and people are at its heart. We can only hope that those who continue to seek commercial gain at the expense of individuals will finally get their comeuppance!

Carl G Peatman
CEO Fastas

FastAs - a revolutionary solution to getting in contact. People search our worldwide phone book and email address directory to find your contact details. With FastAs you keep full control of your contact information and tell the world exactly how you want to contacted – with complete protection of your privacy.