BT has dropped Phorm's controversial technology that tracks
customers on the internet.
Phorm's service tracks the sites consumers visit and then
targets adverts at them. BT has been criticised for trialling the
technology
without informing its customers, and there has been fierce
debate over
whether the service is legal.
BT says it wants to devote its resources to other services, but
said it would be watching to see how the use of Phorm's technology
develops with other internet service providers (ISPs). Phorm says
it is focusing on overseas markets such as South Korea, but it will
continue to develop the service into a form that UK ISPs find
useful.
A BT spokesperson said, "We continue to believe the interest
based advertising category offers major benefits for consumers and
publishers alike. However, given our public commitment to
developing next generation broadband and television services in the
UK we have decided to weigh up the balance of resources devoted to
other opportunities.
"Given these resource commitments, we don't have immediate plans
to deploy Webwise today. However the interest based advertising
market is extremely dynamic and we intend to monitor Phorm's
progress with other ISPs and with Webwise Discover before
finalising our plans."
Phorm will be focusing its efforts more on overseas markets, a
spokesperson said, although UK activities will "remain
ongoing".
"As regards our UK deployment, Phorm's activities remain ongoing
and we look forward to creating the conditions necessary for UK
ISPs to move to deployment.
"In parallel, we continue to focus considerable effort on faster
moving overseas opportunities. In so doing we have already
minimised our dependency on the deployment by any single ISP or in
any particular market. In addition to making excellent progress in
South Korea, we are engaged in more than 15 markets worldwide
including advanced negotiations with several major ISPs.
"These discussions have been greatly accelerated by the launch
of Webwise Discover and its clear benefit to consumers, which has
been viewed as a key step forward by all of our partners, including
those in the UK. We remain very confident in our ability to deliver
on the promise of this substantial opportunity."