MarketWatch's Bambi Francisco says it may only be a matter of time before powerful search engines like Google and Yahoo--with all the information they keep about our Web behavior--combine their data
with our personal info found on sites like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. In fact, in the next two to three years, she says advertisers might be able to use member search data to target ads to them
on these social networks. There's no doubt that as people become more comfortable with their online lives, data usage for advertising will become less of a factor. But studies note that many users
don't trust the most fundamental form of data capture: cookies. Last year, a JupiterResearch study said 40 percent of consumers delete their cookies monthly. Of course, the technology to link search
history and browsing history exists; it's just not widely done. Yahoo offers a product called Impulse that links the two, although Francisco says it's never been heavily promoted by its sales team.
Still, things change quickly on the Web. Five years ago, Francisco asked how Google planned to make money. Fast forward--and ask yourself the same question about YouTube and MySpace. Time may be on
their side.
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