On Linked In, I went to a group that I'm a member of, the Online News Association, and I followed a story link to a story page on the New York Times about AOL reformulating itself after realizing that being a dial-up portal wasn't going to cut it in the 21st century. I noticed that the right-hand content rail displayed a list of NYTimes stories tailored to my industry (media), and it said, "Powered by LinkedIn."
Pretty interesting. It's standard that those content areas (we call 'em content wells at the Times-Dispatch) dynamically call up related stories to the one you're reading in an effort to keep readers on the site and increase interaction and page views. But I haven't seen one that targets user demographics quite like this before.
The Times grabs a cookie that LinkedIn stored on my computer that lists my industry and job function. Then it displays an RSS feed linked to a category that the Times associated with my industry and job.
Here's a pretty page with the partnership outlined:
The FAQ says no personally identifiable info is transmitted or given to the Times, but who knows? They do allow you to opt out.
I don't know how long this feature has been active, but it's pretty interesting. Lots of issues here, like privacy, targeted advertising, and site stickiness.
You gotta hand it to the Times, though, for experimenting with new partnerships to make their sites more user-friendly and rich.
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