When you are planning something or looking for something online you have announced your intentions through the type of searches you do on Google or other websites, it seems that retailers are starting to get wise to this and are using tools like Google Trends to determine where the market is turning.
That intention data that you are placing out on the net is very valuable, and in a way ties into what some call the Attention Economy. In that your web based searches, the sites you visit, the information you share, and what you are looking for is very valuable to retailers. The question now becomes one of ethics, will Google and others start mining this data and selling it to retailers. Or better yet would you take a cut of the money retailers spend to get that info if you allowed Google to give it up.
Something to think about, and when it comes to your intentions, the attention you could garner from companies may be the way business is done over the next 20 years. [New York Times]
