It’s no secret that both the Obama and Romney teams are doing all they can to get your vote on November 6th, and they have been for quite some time. Much of that effort is directed toward your online activities, as the campaigns want to know what you browse and how you click – as it helps them better target the ads you see across the interwebs.
A recent report from a tracking software monitoring company suggests that these efforts are being ramped up considerably as we approach election day. They found 76 different tracking programs on President Obama’s campaign site, up from 53 in May. They also found 40 on Mitt Romney’s site, compared to 25 in May.
This data mining is used is a way similar to online retailers, who compile information on online shoppers and show them relevant ads onsite and on other sites using tracking cookies. This makes sense, when you think about it. Picking a candidate for higher office is just one big shopping adventure, right?
But just how much are you worth to the candidates? Online privacy company Abine has created a tool to calculate how much your vote is worth, in a tangible dollar amount.
All you have to do is answer a few questions about your voting and online habits, and the tool takes from various sources to give you a number. For instance, my vote was worth $30.
Here’s what Abine has to say:
“The Obama and Romney campaigns have been tracking your online activity to determine how you will likely vote and how much they should spend to influence your vote (or maybe secure a campaign contribution). The 2012 Presidential Election Val-You calculator uses your answers to seven questions and data from the campaigns’ finance reports, the 2010 U.S. Census and Abine’s proprietary tracking data about online tracking to estimate your actual value to the campaigns based on the characteristics online tracking can unearth – your demographics, voting history, online activity, etc.”
If you’re in Ohio, let’s say, with a history of voting both ways – I’m sure your designated ad spend will be through the roof. Consistent voters living in Alabama – I’m guessing you’re not that high on the campaigns’ ad blitz list.
