Is this really for me?

I’m not especially competitive — most of the time — so I’m happy to acknowledge when someone does anything faster, better, longer or quicker than I could manage.

I’ve been meaning to write something about personalisation for ages now — but have failed to find the time or the language to articulate my frustration about the topic.

It feels like the ghost that has haunted us for the past 20 years. It’s been sitting there the whole time, an unattainable, largely unseeable and almost entirely unwanted presence through the modern history of the internet.

Most sites and apps struggle to meet the basic needs of their audience, so the desire for truly personalised experiences has always seemed a chimera. But its not stopped millions of hours being wasted in the name of its achievement.

And then I came across this piece by Gerry McGovern: The great personalisation con. He has said it all so much better, funnier and more succinctly than I could manage.

“ Personalisation is really, really hard work, fraught with privacy concerns, and an unparalleled ability to annoy the hell out of customers. Its very strength requires a deep, intimate knowledge of personal information, and micro-targeting can very quickly feel like stalking.”

It was almost like he’d written it just for me.