Acxiom Corp: The 'faceless organization that knows everything about you'

The Week ^ | June 20,2012

[Hojczyk]

What kind of data does it have?

"If you are an American adult," says Singer, "the odds are that it knows things like your age, race, sex, weight, height, marital status, education level, politics, buying habits, household health worries, vacation dreams — and on and on."

It does more than collect that information, though. It uses it to pigeonhole people into one of 70 very specific socioeconomic clusters in an attempt to predict how they'll act, what they'll buy, and how companies can persuade them to buy their products. It gathers its data trove from public records, surveys you've filled out, your online behavior, and other disparate sources of information, then sells it to banks, retailers, and other buyers.

Do other companies do this, too? Yes, it's a very competitive and lucrative business — Acxiom reported a $77.26 million profit last fiscal year, and it's the No. 2 company in the business, after Epsilon. But analysts say that Acxiom has the world's largest database on consumers.

[Hojczyk]

CNBC had a show about this a while back

What do they have on OBAMA??

[Nervous Tick]

>> Do other companies do this, too?

Can you say “Google”? I *thought* you could.

[353FMG]

These must be the people that keep Obama’s BC hidden.

[cuban leaf]

Now I know why all those ads for underground bunkers and women’s lingerie are showing up on my search pages.

[Future Snake Eater]

...and Facebook and a bunch of other sites and businesses. This is nothing new, just newer technology.

[onedoug]

These must be the people that keep Obama’s BC hidden.

Having perused their website a bit I'm sure they know more than they're telling.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

And thus are the seeds of Hari Seldon’s psychohistory sewn.

[ruralvoter]

Ah, Acxiom.......

Here’s a blast from the past on FR:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/987209/postsWesley Clark Keeps Acxiom, Other Board Memberships: Reports
Clark joined Acxiom in December 2001, and played a part in the company’s efforts to market its services to federal organizations involved in homeland security, according to Acxiom spokesman Dale Ingram.

Could there possibly be any Clinton connections?

[txhurl]

Sooner or later they're going to realize I don't HAVE any 'discretionary' income anymore and drop me from their harvestings. The only ads that should be popping up for me are '3.19/gal gas!', 'Hell yeah, I'll move your boat dock for free' and 'Well, we don't *normally* ship hydrocodone to patients we haven't seen but in this case..'

lol

[Tenega]

Founded by the same guy who started Systematics, the notorious NSA bank data software spyware firm for whic Hillary, Webb Hubble and Wm Kennedy were attys in a BCCI related SEC case. Spooky? You bet.

[cuban leaf]

I paid $3.08 yesterday. :-)