The New York Times reports on Pandora’s Internet radio service and how the company has begun mining user preferences to better determine the types of ads that will be most engaging. Pandora’s chief scientist said, “It’s becoming quite apparent to us that the world of playing the perfect music to people and the world of playing perfect advertising to them are strikingly similar.” According to the report, some businesses are attempting to differentiate themselves by creating algorithms that not only understand their consumers’ behavior but also try to influence their behavior. One computer science professor said, “I would guess, looking at music choices, you could probably predict with high accuracy a person’s worldview,” including “people’s stance on issues like gun control or the environment” or, in some cases, political party affiliation. (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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