On-net behavioural ad targeter Phorm has hired SK Communications’ search and portal VP Daniel Park to be its Korea CEO. Alongside, it re-announced its March news that it’s starting a market trial with South Korean telco and ISP KT, potentially opening up to it Korea’s 15 million-customer Korean broadband market; KT already has a 44 percent share. This foreign trial is farther than Phorm has got at home with two previously-announced partners – Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) – though it has completed a BT (NYSE: BT) trial. Release.
Phorm works by anonymously tracking users’ ever web visit to better target ads through partner publishers. Though it promises more valuable ad rates to publishers, the company has been mired by historic allegations, by digital liberties concerns, by Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and Wikipedia disallowing their users to be monitored, and by the European Commission telling the UK government it was wrong in the way it gave Phorm a green light. But Phorm also now says it will demonstrate “an innovative new consumer proposition” at an event on June 3. This, CEO Kent Ertugrul says, will be “the revolutionary centerpiece of our consumer proposition”. It’s not known whether this will be a full implementation of its BT business, further privacy controls or something else.