Location: Are we there yet?

Computerworld - Friends, family and loved ones will soon gather to share that most cherished of annual American traditions: Getting drunk, pigging out and watching giant men try to kill each other on TV.

Super Bowl Sunday is also that special day when we see brand-new, big-budget commercials. But if you're a real sports fan, you'll notice that lineup of products advertised will be generally different from those hawked during regular-season games. Super Bowl ads involve mainstream products, including movies, financial services and Web hosting services. But during the regular season, the ads are all selling beer, motor oil and tires. Why is that?

Advertisers know that the demographic of the Super Bowl is much broader than that of the fans who watch football all season long. They assume, correctly, that real football fans are very likely to be American men who drink a lot of beer and who care very much about branding when it comes to motor oil and tires. Of all that "demographic information," location is absolutely vital. For example, the motor oil and tire commercials would make sense to an audience of football watchers in Saudi Arabia -- if Saudis watched football in significant numbers, which they don't -- but the beer companies would be wasting their money.

Advertising professionals have always obsessed over "location data." That's why everybody wants your ZIP code. Every time you sign up for anything anywhere, they want that ZIP code because, combined with gender and age, the ZIP code tells advertisers quite a lot about you. For starters, people within specific ZIP codes tend to have roughly similar income levels. Once they know that, they can guess what kinds of things you do, and what sorts of things you buy. They know the local weather, for example (no need to advertise ski equipment to people in Texas). They know what stores are available to you. They can even guess your political and religious affiliations with surprising accuracy. The amount of valuable information about people that can be gleaned from a simple ZIP code is enormous.

The future of advertising is the application of ever more accurate, more specific targeting of prospective customers. Advertisers want to know everything about you, including what your brand preferences are, your habits, your income and more. But most of all, they want your location. Not just your ZIP code. Not just the neighborhood you're living in. They want to know exactly, precisely where you are at all times. That way, they can make you offers that are perfectly relevant to you, right here, right now.