Bad manners carry on to the Web

"Didn't your mom teach you that peeping was not polite." This is something that should be told to SalesGenius, a piece of software now being marketed to attract companies who want to spy on their visitors so that they can pitch a good game.

Basically, the Genius software, produced by Salesgenius, allows a salesperson to send a potential client a link inviting them to visit a particular Web page. The trick here is that the link directs them to a proxy server residing at the SalesGenius site. This in term monitors which pages the user visits on the site, allowing the salesperson to follow up with targeted products now that potential client has been marked. The salesperson can now focus on exactly the products that person visited the most depending on the duration of how long the person stayed at a particular page or how many pages within a particular product they saw.

The bottom line is that although this appears to be crossing the line, it isn't different than when a person visits a store and a salesperson walks behind them trying to show products. This happens all the time, I walk into a store and I see a salesperson watch from the sidelines, as soon as I choose interest on a product they are quick to approach to offer others that may serve as companions. Similarly, when you pull into the lot of a dealership, typically a salesperson is quick to approach and jump into a sales strategy. Would I say that this is a great product? The answer is easy, YES! Every business goal is to make money and as I see it, they are simply using a tool to help them cash in. If you want to avoid being spied on, it is easy, look at every URL before you click onto a site, if it doesn't look right, then trust your instincts.