Saul Hansell

Journalist, economist and Internet analyst Saul Hansell has been writing for The New York Times since 1992. Hansell covered banking and finance during his first five years with the Times before becoming the magazine's first reporter to focus on electronic commerce.

"To make money, you have to move up the economic food chain into higher-value, more profitable work and markets. That economic fact of life applies to nations, companies and people."

"If you have AIDS, cancer or erectile dysfunction, a group of big online advertising networks is going to promise not to remember that you read sites about those topics. But if you have Parkinson's disease, congestive heart failure or warts, the ad placement companies have decided it may well be acceptable to keep track of your interest in medical subjects and fill your browser with ads for helpful products from pharmaceutical companies."