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Contents
Regulars Features

52

22

07 Letter Editors
Tearing down walls

27 board: Drawing
Natural law
The case for a global law against environmental vandalism

09 Radar
Worldwide business trends

30 inuence: Disruptive
Fashion forward
Benettons new creative director explains how hes going to revitalise the agging brand

15 Next

47

Clothes made out of milk, oor tiles that generate electricity, high-speed Wi-Fi for remote areas and eco-friendly minicabs

35 Enterprise:
A new mandate
Can local developer Padico really turn Palestine into the next tiger economy?

20 Hotspot
Nordhavnen, Copenhagen

22 Rising
American software developer BlueCava and Dutch budget boutique hotel brand CitizenM

41 Innovation:
Mail-order pride
The success of Bangalorebased e-retailer Flipkart, also known as Indias Amazon

59

47 Media:
Golden egg hunt
Why TV producers are scrambling to nd the next Dora the Explorer, Ben 10 or Bob the Builder

52 Investment:
Silicon enhanced
Brazils tech scene is exciting Silicon Valley investors

59 aairs: Global
Power struggle
PICTURE GETTY

As the oil starts to run out, what are the prospects for business in Azerbaijan?

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY NICK ONKEN

OCTOBER 2011 I CNBC BUSINESS 3

RISING

THE COOKIE CUTTER

BlueCavas software which tracks devices rather than web users could be a boon to advertisers. If the public will agree to be targeted by them...
By Stephen Pritchard
ust over a year ago, US serial entrepreneur David Norris was enjoying life in the Spanish resort of Sitges. The founder of OnRequest Images a global photography-services provider and before that, of training and software firm ObjectSpace, was taking some time out. But a call came that convinced him to return to the corporate fray. Was he interested in tackling the $30bn (21bn) market for targeted advertising as BlueCavas CEO? The California-based company, spun out of technology incubator Uniloc, uses software invented by Ric Richardson (sometime road manager of the Australian band INXS) to fingerprint electronic devices. Originally this was with a view to clamping down on piracy, but Norriss task is to take the technology into an altogether different market. BlueCava is setting out to fingerprint every device on the internet, from PCs to phones, and tablets to TVs. So far, it has identified more than a billion, and estimates there are nine billion more to go. But what will BlueCava do with all that information? Our technology doesnt capture any personal information it only identifies the device, not the user, says Norris.If, for example, I visited the Starwood site [he is staying at Starwoods W Hotel while promoting his company in London], our technology would identify my laptop. If I then go back to the site and log on with the same laptop, it would allow the hotel to associate that laptop with me. Once theyve done that, they will know who I am, even if I do not log in. If the idea of companies being able to track your movements across the internet sounds slightly sinister, Norris argues that it is anything but. Online users have to opt in to tracking by BlueCava. Otherwise, he

If you ask people whether they want interesting adverts or coupons, they will say yes

BlueCava CEO David Norris

maintains, BlueCava is simply tracking a gadget, not a user. But the power of such tracking only comes into its own when the device is linked to a person. BlueCavas technology has two main applications: targeting advertising and tracking device reputation. Advertisers and media companies want to know who is visiting their sites, so they can measure and drive traffic. E-commerce companies want to display relevant offers to visitors. If a site uses BlueCavas technology and its customers opt in to the tracking the site can serve up the right adverts and offers. Advertisers want to know the demographic profile, the age range, the location of their visitors, says Norris.That gives them the chance to target their ads effectively. But that data is mostly opt-in. Consumers agree to allow the business

to target them with information and promotions; we use approved data from consumers. If the consumer doesnt want targeting, they can opt out. This, he says, is very different from the automatic cookies that many websites use to track visitors. In Europe, for example, recent EU regulations require that businesses ask for consumers consent before putting cookies on their browsers, although countries such as the UK have given businesses a year to implement the directive. BlueCavas model based as it is on tracking the device rather than the person would not be covered by the directive, and would give businesses in the EU another way of monitoring web traffic. Since the cookie laws, weve been inundated with requests, he says.Our technology is cookie-less, so that has really accelerated our business here and weve accelerated our business plans [for Europe] because of that.

22 CNBC BUSINESS I OCTOBER 2011

BlueCavas animated advertising

One challenge facing BlueCava and its customers is to convince members of the public to opt in, rather than opt out, of targeted advertising and promotions. Most consumers are aware that they can opt out of tracking and targeting, but they dont understand its benefits, says Norris.If you ask someone if they want to be tracked, they will say no, because they dont understand it. But if you ask them if they want interesting adverts or coupons, they will say yes. Much, then, of BlueCavas success will depend on how website owners implement its technology. On its own, the technology cannot identify the user, or even whether the device is an iPad or a laptop. Brand owners have to tie this to information they already hold or can convince the consumer to hand over; BlueCava itself is only paid when its technology identifies that a device has visited a site. But, says Norris, website owners and media companies will want

to use identification, because an identified user or even device is worth more to an advertiser. But there is another application for BlueCavas technology, and one that differs from giving shoppers more interesting special offers. Device fingerprints can be used to manage a devices reputation. This, Norris says, is already being used to improve security online. And, although Norris will not be drawn on revenue figures for BlueCavas various operations, security could well be a more lucrative market than targeted advertising. If today, you log in to a website here, and two hours later you log in from a country that is 12 hours away, that is not physically possible, he explains.Device ID provides an additional security step, as we can identify that the user is logging in from a different device, and also where that device is. Businesses are beginning to adopt that technology.

Moreover, banks or credit card or online security companies can use the device fingerprint to spot if a computer is being used to try to gain access to multiple users accounts, or, for example, if a computer has been used before with a stolen credit card number.We share our database, so businesses can tell us what they think about a device... If a device exhibits unusual behaviour, you might want to take additional security steps. And Norris believes that, despite the sensitivities around much of what it does, BlueCava has the potential to improve the way the internet works.Ours is a complex task and also a challenge of scale, he says. We have to be able to identify devices many, many times; we might handle several billion transactions in a day. But proving that the technology works could be a lesser challenge than persuading the public to trust an electronic fingerprint that tracks their every move.
OCTOBER 2011 I CNBC BUSINESS 23

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