NY Times Uses Geo-Targeting to Block Article From UK Users
The New York Times website published an article on Monday that detailed information about the men allegedly involved in the terror plot to blow up airliners en route to the U.S., including some of the evidence held by British authorities.
While the article was accessible to people around the world, visitors from the UK saw a message stating that, according to British law, the NY Times couldn’t publish information that may affect the defendants’ impending trial. The NY Times used the same geo-targeting technology used to target regional advertising to block UK visitors from reading the article.
Geo-targeting technology interprets a visitor’s unique IP address and can determine where the machine they’re using is located. The Inquirer, a European tech news site, called the NY Times’ geo-blocking attempt a failure, citing instances where individuals from Ireland, Canada, and Australia were blocked also.
It’s no secret that the NY Times’ effort has holes in it, since it’s relatively easy for a web surfer to use a non-regional IP through a proxy server. The article has also been republished though NY Times snippets on blogs and other websites, and search engine caching. The NY Times also blocked access to an audio news summary which included the article and removed it from UK versions of the printed newspaper.
Article Sponsor
More News
Reader Comments.
No comments yet
Leave a Comment
Spotlight
AdMob: Google’s Move Into Mobile Fray Helps UsADOTAS EXCLUSIVE – AdMob offers the biggest mobile advertising marketplace on the planet — and the company was founded just [...] more...
Latest News
- The Android Market Is Open for Business August 29th 2008
- RIP: Yahoo’s Mash August 29th 2008
- Boomers Are Slutty Shoppers August 29th 2008
- DigiMeld Raises $2M August 29th 2008
- Comcast Caps Internet Usage at 250 GB August 29th 2008
- Microsoft To Buy Ciao.com Price Comparison Firm August 29th 2008
- McCain Beats Obama in Online Ad Tactics? August 28th 2008
- Hires Round-Up: WPP, Pandora August 28th 2008
Features
- Local Shops Have Leg Up on Social Sites August 29th 2008
- Phelps Wins GOLD for Facebook Advertisers August 28th 2008
- Email Deliverability: 10 Golden Rules August 27th 2008
- Infomercials: Revolutionary Political Tool? August 27th 2008
- Can 314 Ad Networks Really Thrive? August 26th 2008
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
Most Commented
- Google Slaps Affiliate Marketers (Again) (27)
- Marketing to Women Is So 2007 (10)
- Why CFOs Don’t Believe in Online Advertising (7)
- Serious Software Bugs Reported in iPhones (6)
- Obama’s VP Pick Inauspicious for Net Neutrality (5)
- Has NebuAd Ruined Behavioral Targeting? (4)
- Four Steps To Lead Generation Success (3)
- Two Mobile Studies Provide Priceless Peek Into Consumers’ Psyche (3)
