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Watching Your Every Move 谁在网络记录你的一举一动？

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Are retailers going too far tracking our web habits?  零售业者这样大肆追踪消费者的网络习惯，会不会太超过了？

Companies have been monitoring our online behavior for almost as long as there’s been an Internet, often using our online footsteps (cookies) whenever we search, browse or buy online. Tracking technology has advanced so much that everything can be collected and stored on individual profiles. Our profiles are numeric descriptions, not our real names, but in some cases, it’s not hard to determine personal information behind the numbers.

其实几乎打从网络问世以来，各家公司就一直在监测我们的网络的行为，方式往往是透过我们在网络搜寻、浏览或购物时所遗留下的在线足迹（即所谓的网络「饼干」）。追踪科技的长足进步，使得任何数据都可搜集并储存在个人档案中，虽然我们的档案都是数字化的描述，并没有使用我们的真实姓名，但在有些情况下，想要从数字来推定分析出个人的资料，也并非难事。

Privacy concerns abound, and several privacy and consumer groups are urging Congress to enact laws on what can and can’t be collected and for how long.

外界对于隐私权的问题非常关切（译注：直译为对隐私权的关切大量充斥），还有一些隐私权和消费者权益团体正极力促请美国国会制定相关法案，以决定哪些资料可以搜集，而哪些则不行，以及数据可以被存取多久的时间。

But the tracking continues in earnest, in few places more avidly than among retailers. Retailers are increasingly turning to the web for answers – and sales. Even retailers beating the odds find their online growth far surpasses that in their brick-and-mortar stores.

只不过，在这期间，各家公司仍持续认真地进行网络追踪，而且少有其他业界的急切程度比得上零售业者。零售商愈来愈转向网络来寻求答案──以及销售量。即使是突破不景气而业绩长红的（译注：beat the odds指克服[困难、难关、经济不景气等颓势]而成功）零售业者，也发现网络销售成长率远超出实体商店（译注：直译为砖块和灰泥砌成的商店）的成绩。

Why track web habits?  为何追踪网络习惯？

By monitoring the browsing and buying behavior of consumers who visit their websites, stores are able to better target online and e-mailed promotions to what consumers are most likely to buy. They occasionally adapt their home pages to the shopper. And as Amazon has been doing for years, they also can use what products other shoppers have purchased to knowledgeably recommend additional purchases.

业者藉由监测消费者在其公司网站上的浏览和购买行为，就能在进行网络和电子邮件营销时，更精确地锁定主打消费者最可能购买的东西；业者甚至偶而还会为了购买者而修改调整网页；此外，有些公司还采用了亚马逊公司行之有年的策略，也就是告诉消费者其他购物者还买了哪些产品，藉由提供有凭有据的建议，好让购物者能额外再添购商品。

The e-commerce marketing company Coremetrics says consumers are 50 percent more likely to open and click through a targeted e-mail than a generic one. And targeted e-mails generate 50 percent more revenue than generic e-mails, the company has found.

科麦崔电子商务营销公司指出，针对特定目标发送的电子邮件，信件的开启和点选率，会比广泛通用的大批电邮高出百分之五十；而该公司也发现，针对特定目标发送的特定电邮所获得的营收，会比通用的大批电邮多出百分之五十。

“It’s a double-edged sword,” says Joseph Davis, CEO of Coremetrics. “The more …. data you can get about the person, the more successful you will be, [but] some don’t want the data to be used.”

「水能载舟，也能覆舟，」科麦崔公司执行长约瑟，戴维斯表示，「所获得的个人资料愈多，营销就会愈成功，只不过，被搜集资料的人本身，可能并不希望自己的数据被人利用。」

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footstep [ˋfʊt͵stɛp] n. 足迹

profile [ˋprofaɪl] n. 数据图表，量变曲线; 档案数据(pl.)

enact [ɪnˋækt] v. 制定（法律）；颁布（法案）

in earnest [ˋɝnɪst] 认真(地); 并非开玩笑(地) with a purposeful or sincere intent

beat the odds 获得出乎意料的成功；战胜命运 succeed although there are great difficulties

surpass [sɚˋpæs] v. 胜过；优于；大于

brick-and-mortar（与virtual 相对）实际存在的，实体的，（公司等）有厂房和店铺的

adapt [əˋdæpt] v. 改编，改写

knowledgeably [ˋnɑlɪdʒəblɪ] adv. 很有见识地; 知识渊博地

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Successful but controversial  成功但具有争议性

Retailers and the consultants who work on their online marketing insist most use the information they collect on their sites only for advertising and other pitches for the site it was gathered from. That’s unlike the networks of advertisers and other marketers that share data across sites. Under pressure from government officials and privacy groups, retailers are also increasingly disclosing what they are doing and letting consumers opt in or out.

进行网络营销的零售业者和咨询顾问都坚称，大多数业者都只会把自家网站上所搜集到的资料，用来在同一个网站上做广告和其他营销之用（并不会用在其他网站）；而这个做法就和其他广告业者及营销业者组成网络联盟以便在不同网站上共享数据的做法迥异。如今零售业者于受到来自政府官员和隐私权团体的压力，因此也愈来愈愿意揭露公司的实际做法，并提供消费者自行选择接受或拒绝的机会（译注：opt in指消费者选择参加广告营销的活动，或是容许商家发送电子邮件给他们，而opt in则是拒绝参与）。

A 2009 survey of 1,000 consumers released by professors from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California-Berkeley found almost 70 percent were opposed to online behavioral tracking by advertisers, and even more were opposed after they were told how the tracking was done.

宾州大学和加州大学柏克莱分校教授在二００九年针对一千名消费者进行调查，结果发现，有近七成受访者反对广告商进行网络行为追踪，而当受访者得知网络追踪的实际运作方式之后，持反对意见的人数又变得更多了。

Concerns need to be addressed  必须设法解决的疑虑

But the National Retail Federation says that whatever concerns shoppers may have, they’re not avoiding online shopping because of them. In a 2009 survey of 2,600 consumers, NRF asked for the primary reasons why shoppers might not be increasing their online spending this year. Privacy concerns and worries about “online tracking” were named by only 0.1 percent of shoppers, the smallest factor. The cost of shipping, on the other hand, was the biggest concern, with almost 23 percent citing it.

不过，全美零售业联盟表示，无论购物者对网络购物是否存有任何疑虑，他们仍然不会因为这些因素就停止在网络购物。该联盟在二００九年针对二千六百名消费者进行调查，询问购物者今年可能不会增加网络支出的主要原因，结果发现，只有百分之零点一的购物者提到对「网络追踪」的隐私权相关疑虑和忧心，在所有原因中比率敬陪末座。就另一方面而言，运送的费用倒是购物者最关切的因素，将近有百分之二十三的人提到这个因素。

Critics argue that people aren’t more worried because they don’t understand how sweeping the tracking can be, while industry officials argue those who worry often don’t recognize the upside.

反对人士声称，购物者之所以不会非常担心的原因是，他们根本不清楚网络追踪的范围有多广，但业界人士则辩称，对网络追踪做法存有疑虑的人，往往没有意识到这种做法的正面意义。

“Retailers could do a better job explaining the benefits of letting them capture some information about you,” says David. “If people say, ‘I just want to opt out,’ they don’t find out about the sale and don’t get coupons for discounts.”

「零售业者其实还可以做得更好一点，可以向消费者解释清楚，容许商家搜集一些个人资料的好处有哪些，」戴维斯指出，「（例如，业者可以说明清楚，）如果消费者表示：『我只想拒绝广告营销』的话，就无法深入了解大打折的细节，也拿不到商品折扣券了。」

−by Jayne O’Donnell

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consultant [kənˋsʌltənt] n. 顾问

opt in  决定参加 express permission by a customer, or a recipient of a mail, email, or other direct message to allow a marketer to send a merchandise, information, or more messages

opposed [əˈpəʊzd] adj. 强烈反对的

name [nem] v. 列举；陈说

cite [saɪt] v. 引用；引……为证；举出

upside [ˋʌpˋsaɪd] n. 好的一方面；有利的一面

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Vocabulary Focus

abound [əˋbaʊnd] v. 大量存在; 丰富; 充沛 to exist in large numbers

avidly [ˋævɪdlɪ] adv. 贪婪地；贪心地; 热衷地 in an extremely eager or interested manner

generic [dʒɪˋnɛrɪk] adj. 一般的，总称的 typical of a whole group of similar things, rather than any particular thing.

double-edged sword 双刃剑 describes something that acts in two ways, often with one negative and one positive effect

pitch [pɪtʃ]【口】叫卖，推销 an act that attempts to persuade someone to buy or do something

disclose [dɪsˋkloz] v. 揭发；透露；公开[+that] to provide information that was not previously known

sweeping [ˋswipɪŋ] adj. 广阔的；广泛的；全面的；彻底的 having great effect or range