Phorm

Phorm
Company typePublic (AIM: PHRM)
IndustryOnline advertising
Founded2002[1]
FateCeased trading
HeadquartersLondon, UK[2]
Area served
United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Romania, Turkey, China
Key people
Steven Heyer (chairman),[3] Kent Ertugrul (chief executive officer and chairman) resigned 15 July 2015[4]
ProductsPageSense, ProxySense, Open Internet Exchange (OIX), Webwise, PeopleOnPage, ContextPlus, Apropos
RevenueDecrease U$ 688,843 in interest income (2007)[5][needs update]
Decrease US$ -48 million (2008)[6] Decrease US$ 30.5 million (2011)[2]

Phorm, formerly known as 121Media, was a digital technology company known for its contextual advertising software. Phorm was incorporated in Delaware, United States, but relocated to Singapore as Phorm Corporation (Singapore) Ltd in 2012.[2][7] Founded in 2002, the company originally distributed programs that were considered spyware, from which they made millions of dollars in revenue. It stopped distributing those programs after complaints from groups in the United States and Canada, and announced it was talking with several United Kingdom Internet service providers (ISPs) to deliver targeted advertising based on the websites that users visited. Phorm partnered with ISPs Oi, Telefonica in Brazil, Romtelecom in Romania,[8][9] and TTNet in Turkey.[10] In June 2012, Phorm made an unsuccessful attempt to raise £20 million for a 20% stake in its Chinese subsidiary.[11]

The company's proposed advertising system, called Webwise, was a behavioral targeting service (similar to NebuAd) that used deep packet inspection to examine traffic. Phorm said that the data collected would be anonymous and would not be used to identify users, and that their service would include protection against phishing (fraudulent collection of users' personal information). Nonetheless, World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee and others spoke out against Phorm for tracking users' browsing habits, and the ISP BT Group was criticised for running secret trials of the service.

The UK Information Commissioner's Office voiced legal concerns over Webwise, and has said it would only be legal as an "opt-in" service, not an opt-out system. The European Commission called on the UK to protect Web users' privacy, and opened an infringement proceeding against the country in regard to ISPs' use of Phorm. Some groups, including Amazon.com and the Wikimedia Foundation (the non-profit organization that operates collaborative wiki projects), requested an opt-out of their websites from scans by the system. Phorm changed to an opt-in policy. According to Phorm's website, the company would not collect any data from users who had not explicitly opted in to its services. Users had to provide separate consent for each web browsing device they used.[12]

Due to increasing issues, Phorm ceased trading on 14 April 2016.[13][14][15]

  1. ^ Story, Louise (20 March 2008). "A Company Promises the Deepest Data Mining Yet". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
  2. ^ a b c "Phorm Inc Annual Financial Report". FE Investegate. June 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Phorm appoints Steven Heyer chairman". Thomson Financial News, via Forbes.com. 18 August 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.[dead link]
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Phorm, Inc Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2007" (PDF). Phorm. pp. 14, 25.
  6. ^ Sweney, Mark (18 June 2009). "Phorm pre-tax loss hits $48m". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Small cap round up: RiIG, JSJS Design, Phorm Inc". Sharecast. 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  8. ^ "MyClicknet from Romtelecom - new free service for customers Clicknet Romtelecom". Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Shunned Profiling Technology on the Verge of Comeback". The Wall Street Journal. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  10. ^ "Phorm press release" (PDF). Phorm.com. 9 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Phorm to Raise £20m for Stake in China Subsidiary". Sharecast. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  12. ^ "Phorm Privacy Policy". Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  13. ^ "Ad slinger Phorm ceases trading". The Register. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  14. ^ "Phorm Corporation Limited, Financial and Operational Update and Resignation of Nominated Adviser". Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Phorm (UK): Constituent Deletion". Retrieved 14 May 2016.