Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

I am an observer.  I am intuitive and thirst for knowledge.  I’m also a genius who is the reincarnation of the ever-breathy Marilyn Monroe.  I understand men 100%, and I’m also the cartoon character Dory as well as the Disney Princess Mulan.  Hey,  this is all before lunch even.  No, I don’t have split personality disorder or any other kind of mental heath diagnosis (I think).  Just the results of a bunch of those online quizzes.  Yeah, you know what I mean. 

Those you see all over the place telling you that you can find out the color of your aura, what your name means (mine conveys both wholeness and wisdom), or pump up your ego with how utterly brilliant you are and how high your IQ is.  Because you know that one has to be spot on.

Well, besides finding out my Patronus is a Bat, I also learned that these quizzes aren’t just about killing some time and a few chuckles. 

Show me the money!  It’s so many times what it all boils down to, right?  Did you really think this was any exception?  While the web quizzes may be entertaining to take, they are much more than that to the companies developing or backing them.  “The Warrior You Most Resemble” may be revealing a lot more than you think.  These companies use the information that you give them to collect your data, and sometimes even your money.

What do you do in an online quiz?  You tell all kinds of stuff about yourself.  You are a marketing guru’s fantasy.  Because it drives in advertising.  “The big trend is about engagement,” says Debra Aho Williamson, a senior analyst with eMarketer. “These quizzes are getting people to pay attention to ads.”

Those IQ tests are one of the smarmiest for this.  And for trying to get your money.  After going through taking the whole test, and waiting with bated breath to see how brilliant you are…many users instead find themselves having to wade through tons and tons of online “offers”....to the point many simply give up and never even get their score.  “There’s a clear annoyance factor, leading people to one thing, then at the last minute bait-and-switching them,” Williamson says. “The challenge with this type of advertising is walking that line between people wanting it and people wanting it to go away.”

Or, they pull the “if you want it you have to pay for it” card.  And someone forgot to share that little tidbit ahead of time.  You will go through….complete some long test or survey that you think is free, only to be hit with “For your results, pay only blah blah blah!”  Yes, the requirement for the payment is sometimes there ahead of time…in fine print on page four on a link you have to click to in order to read it.  Or else, some, like IQ-Test-Results.com, will then slip in a sneaky little recurring fee for their faithful registered users.  And no, this is not in nice big, “please notice me” print.

Then, you have sites like RealAge.  Oh, this one is nifty.  This one is popular for telling you what your biological age is based on your answers to a detailed quiz about health habits and family history.  Are you depressed?  How often do you have sex?  Now, the answers to these rather personal questions aren’t just to figure out your “Real Age” by the way.  Ahhhh….no.  Your information is then used to market you based on your answers.  Depressed?  Having problems in that area and Viagra is starting to look good?  Well, let us (RealAge) help.  We will allow partners to sponsor messages that we will then send to you.  Aren’t we ever so helpful?  *cough, cough*

“These [types of sites] are data-mining havens where users willingly opt in from the very beginning,” says Ryan Jacobson, an attorney and co-chairman of the Entertainment Media and Privacy Law Group at the law firm SmithAmundsen in Chicago. “I’m afraid that the average user fails to recognize or take the time to understand what privacy rights he or she is actually giving up by responding.”

What it boils down to is, do you trust who you are giving all that personal information to?  Because the thing is, that data can be passed along even when you don’t directly input the data.  Think of Facebook.  When you open one of those popular applications, you are giving the developer the right to fully access your profile.  And don’t for a second think all those developers just made those quizzes just to give you a good time.  Guillaume Lovet, senior manager with security company Fortinet says “The very intimate and detailed nature of the information featured on Facebook profiles makes such a database very valuable to marketers.”

And the thing is…is it a worthwhile trade off to you?  Because believe it or not, those tests really aren’t something you can bank money on the results.  Especially the IQ Tests you find online.  “These things are simply not sophisticated,” says Martin Eaton, a licensed clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at the University of Southern California. “Calling them intelligence tests would be a misnomer.” 

I’m sure I, the reincarnated Marilyn, Mulan, highly observant, thirsting for knowledge genius is the exception to that rule.  *snort*

via: msn