If You Thought Supermarket Cards Were Scary...
from the you-ain't-seen-nothing-yet dept
If you thought those "loyalty" card programs at supermarkets were evil marketing tools, wait until you read this article about the data mining system the casino firm Harrah's has set up. It's pretty damn impressive. They try to get visitors to get a frequent players card and then they track everything and then mine that data for as much useful info as they can. While it's pretty scary to think about (and acts as a good reminder for me to just use cash next time I'm at a casino), it is somewhat fascinating to read about how the system works. Of course, I would say you should just stay home and gamble online, but now they're saying that online gamblers are more likely to get addicted. What? Without the free drinks and showgirls? You would think that the real casino attractions would be a part of the addiction - but I guess the addict is addicted to gambling - and the online version avoids any distractions.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team