Measuring success

Abstract

The structure of the Web is rapidly evolving from a loose collection of Web sites into organized marketplaces. The phenomena of aggregation, portals, large enterprise sites, and business-to-business applications are resulting in centralized, virtual places, through which millions of visitors pass. With this development, it becomes possible to gather unprecedented amounts of data about individuals. Data sources capturing purchase histories, casual browsing habits, financial activities, credit histories, and demographics can be combined to construct highly detailed personal profiles.