In a world where just about every visible surface in our physical environment carries advertising, digital marketing is about to besiege us to a whole new level. Every log on to a site is already tracked by Google who sells the information to marketers and treacherously colludes with repressive governments.

Jonathan Ariel's enthusiasm is not catching, I'm afraid. More aggressive digital marketing strategies to increase product consumption based on the predelictions of online users is not terrific. Your click throughs will eventually attract marketing scrutiny like blowies to ordure. Your choices will be narrowed and shaped.

This is not about consumer's control - what a frightening thought to be in an endless dialogue with an advertiser! It's about developing the capacity to avalanche a consumer based on his/her online behaviour.

I like my life unpolluted by advertising, I like my life largely self sufficient and no amount of targeted advertisinig will make me partonise leeches like Woolworths and Coles for the basics of life. My local realtime, not online producers are just fine by me.

Their targeted advertising comprises a sample of something delicious and a chat.

"As mobile devices and the web are more widely accepted, consumers will be empowered more and more over time."

And pigs might fly.

"This represents a significant paradigm shift in retail thinking, one where ad executives and marketers will no longer lord over consumers."

Again, pigs might fly.

I'm with Baxter Sin on this; I view Jonathan's claims with a great deal of cynicism I'm afraid.

Like Baxter, I don't want my online movements, or any others for that matter, tracked for marketing purposes. The winner out of all of this will not be the consumer, as Jonathan so glibly assures us, but already wealthy and powerful corporations with the resources and the reach to track our every online action. Welcome to our brave new world!

"First, there is your Sunday morning newspaper, groaning under the weight of colour catalogues from retailers who promote their wares to anyone who happens to have thumbed through the paper, regardless of whether they actually need the product or not."

Yes, I do agree, this would be a benefit - if it actually eventuated. My guess though is we'll be hit with both forms of marketing - paper and digital - both equally unwanted and unwelcome.

Bronwyn pointed out the ham aviators well.

If consumers are at the bottom of the metaphoric marketing food chain, does that make the marketers the predators? Are not all predators highly adapted to track and trap their prey?

There is no nobility in this, Jonathan. The callous act by predators to bleed their more numerous, more carefully watched prey is unadulterated greed when the predators are fat enough.

Who believes this cant? It's about trying to wrap a trap in sweet-smelling bait. Like loyalty schemes and 'buy ten get one free'.

It's about the cynical attempt to make you think the predators like you, can connect with you and really aren't so bad.

Bring on the aerial bacon, Bronwyn.

Baxter Sin

"Bring on the aerial bacon, Bronwyn."

Will it invoke an Ariel response I wonder?