• by Sheree R. Curry , January 24, 2006

On a bitter cold afternoon in December, Seth Goldstein, a 35-year-old serial entrepreneur who a decade ago founded the Internet ad agency SiteSpecific and later an online concierge service, hailed a cab in Manhattan and told the driver that 49th St. and 11th Ave. was his destination. The cabbie refused the fare. For whatever reason, the driver wasn't interested in heading to this West Side intersection. But there's always more than one means to an end, so Goldstein hoofed it, chatting on his cell phone about his latest venture, which he says will revolutionize the way advertisers get quality leads.

Those leads will be culled from consumers' Internet metadata, but with their active collaboration. If it takes off, it could force other infomediaries and publishers, such as Google and bookmark manager del.icio.us, to be more forthcoming about the value of the data they collect from users.

Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of the recently launched Root Markets (root.net), believes that consumers will be willing to store their clickstream history and personal data in online "vaults" if it means receiving more relevant and targeted advertising. The vaults, provided and secured by Root Markets, are personally approved by consumers, who also approve which marketers may purchase and view their data. Consumers will also receive compensation for the transaction. Goldstein maintains that if Google and Yahoo! can profit from selling online behavior data, consumers ought to as well.

Root's premise is that it creates a marketplace between consumers and marketers. It's not so different from Wall Street or the New York Stock Exchange, says adviser and former Amazon chief scientist Andreas Weigend. But instead of buying and selling stock, investors are buying and selling keywords and clicks.

Still, Root Markets faces an uphill battle. It needs to please four distinct segments: advertisers, consumers, publishers, and investors. And it "actually has another type of indirect customer -- agencies," says David Whittle, regional director, digital, M&C Saatchi. "This is the primary group making the decisions about budget allocation, and is possibly the most threatened by the Root model. The largest problem lies with how agencies are going to profit from recommending the Root model to their clients."

Indeed, getting agencies and consumers on board may be a tough sell. "Without consumers, this market is not going to exist. There need to be enough marketers to pay them," says Peter Herschberg, a managing partner at search-engine marketing services firm Reprise Media.

And how exactly will Root pay the 700-plus consumers who have climbed aboard since Root went live last November? Goldstein, who hopes to have 50,000 registered users by year-end 2006, hadn't decided that as of press time, but did say it won't be in the form of freebies like iPod Minis. He doesn't want the quality of the lead to be diluted by consumers who simply sign on to receive cool prizes.