MENLO PARK, CA — AdTech giant Precog Systems announced on Tuesday the launch of what it calls Fourth Party Data, a brand new category that CEO Marcus Chen describes as “the data between the data.”
Unlike first party data (collected directly from users), second party data (shared between partners), or third party data (bought from brokers), fourth party data represents what Chen calls “probabilistic intent shadows.” In simple terms, it is data about what people would have done if they had known certain options existed.
“We are no longer limited by what people actually do,” Chen told investors during a call, notably without his compliance officer present. “Fourth party data predicts the desires users do not even have yet. We are innovating on hypothetical behaviour.”
The technology analyses what Precog calls “behavioural dark matter,” meaning the clicks that almost happened, the purchases users considered for a fraction of a second before scrolling past, and what the company’s white paper describes as “the quantum superposition of consumer intent.”
“Traditional third party data told you what strangers did,” said Dr Helena Voss, Precog’s Chief Synthetic Intelligence Officer. “Fourth party data tells you what strangers might do in a parallel universe. It is basically ‘pre-crime’ for programmatic.”
Early adopters report record engagement.
“We served an ad for a product this guy did not want, based on a version of himself that does not exist,” said one programmatic buyer, speaking on condition of anonymity as he watched his match rate metrics climb. “He bought it anyway. That is when I knew we had crossed into something radical and prescience.”
The International Marketing Board is already drafting standards for fifth party data, which early notes suggest could involve “emotional futures trading” and “the monetisation of regret.”
Precog Systems, formerly Finger In The Air Media, saw its stock jump 34 percent on the news.
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed.
