Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Time Zones in Time Targetting

Chris Tyler (Chris_at_Global.Proximity.ON.CA)
Sat, 2 Aug 1997 18:38:33 -0400

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Randall Farmer [Team 13429] <rfarmer_at_HiWAAY.net> notes:
>
> It is possible to get around the time zone problem for displaying ads at
> certain times of day. Doubleclick does this the same way they target
> geographically -- they use the full domain to extract the approximate
> location of the viewer. They probably put zip codes from contact infos,
> etc. on US domain registrations into a database and just used the country
> suffix on non-US domains...

Yikes. Canada is an active packet-consuming country and we span 6 time zones.
Fortunately many of our ISPs are .com or .net and appear in the WHOIS database;
accessing the .ca registration database is a real pain (FTP!).

> then, when a user loads an ad, they look up the
> domain name and use it to get the zip code. That method isn't perfect, of
> course -- they'll get the ISP's zip code, not the user's (not a big
> problem when you're just trying to get their time zone), and it still
> doesn't clear up the location any when you're dealing with a nationwide
> Internet provider, unless they have dedicated servers for each location
> and the ad server knows which is where.

I'd be interested to know how DoubleClick handles the national ISPs and on-line
services, as well as the corporate domains. Obviously,
office43.denver.multinational.com can be figured out and placed in a database,
but pop19.aol.com or host3.xyz.gov is a challenge. (Though they have said that
they have "built" their own database, and you can usually figure out a host's
approximate geographic location from a traceroute).

I should say that I'm quite impressed with DoubleClick's geographical
targetting, and appreciate getting (mainly) ads from companies interested in
doing business with Canadians... but then I'm using a local ISP.

--
Chris Tyler                       <Chris_at_Global.Proximity.ON.CA>
Global Proximity Corporation      http://Global.Proximity.ON.CA/
Internet and Computer Consulting  (519) 421-3541 / fax (519) 421-2107
*** Organizers of the Woodstock Business Internet Conference ***


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