If you’ve been keeping up on your online advertising news this year you know there has been much debate and publicity around behavioral targeting. For those who haven’t heard, behavioral targeting is the practice used by publishers to track and identify consumers’ online interests and then serve ads deemed relevant based on browsing history. It has picked up great momentum and popularity among marketers who see it as an opportunity to increase efficiency of media placements; and likewise, publishers invest in building out behavioral networks because they can charge a premium. On the other hand, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants more regulation and stronger, simpler opportunities to opt-out users from behavioral targeting. Typically, I am a fanatic about protecting my own privacy online, but in this case I’m wondering is this targeting such a bad thing?
My husband and I bought a house recently and since then I have found my feelings toward advertising grow from slight annoyance to near disgust (Gasp!). Just yesterday I walked up to my front door to find numerous multi-colored flyers and ads shoved in my door. These of course went flying and hit me in the face as I attempted to juggle the door, my bags, and the flyers, which then lead me to scramble after the papers, trip over my mums, and fall on my face. So, obviously I was angry, but not because I took a nose dive, my anger actually bubbled up as soon as I saw the flyers on the door.
Many consumers are feeling increasingly frustrated toward irrelevant ads in all media channels. But what if those ads were indeed relevant? What if those flyers on my door advertised a fabulous yoga center in the area, or a great used book store close by…would I have gotten so mad? Probably not. In fact, I think it would be very refreshing to receive a mailer that actually related to me. And I’ve noticed that Google has moved in this direction. Google offers a tool available for users to log in and control what targeting they receive based on their search history. This transparency is certainly a change from traditional channels. If only I could do that with my TV and mailbox I might actually enjoy reading advertisements!
Critics of behavioral targeting, on the other hand, claim companies are collecting too much information and are not upfront enough with the consumer. However, again, the publishers beg to differ. In the case of Yahoo, the media giant has a very robust Privacy Center (which they claim only 75,000 people per month ever visit) allowing users the ability to completely opt-out of behavioral targeting altogether. Now, in all fairness, Yahoo does claim the site is “prominently linked” but, I would argue their definition of prominence is rather loose. Despite not finding a huge link advertising the page, I was able to locate the user controls within a few minutes. The site provides a great deal of information for consumers who want to understand exactly what is going on with their information online – they even have a privacy blog.
As things stand right now, internet users have the ability to opt-out of behavioral targeting. Interestingly, most do not demand that right. People either don’t realize they have the choice, don’t care to, or simply don’t have the time to spend learning about targeting options. Some FTC members support the opt-in strategy, saying that all users should have to choose to receive targeted ads. This makes sense when you’re trying to collect sensitive data, but for ad targeting? Microsoft says that concept is just not realistic. Rather, Microsoft is a proponent for more education for consumers. The fact is if most people don’t know about behavioral targeting how can we expect them to opt-in?
I also see a need for more education around behavioral targeting. I’m all for restricting the collection of PII (personal identifiable information). However, it seems many people are not at all aware of the extent to which they can be tracked. Working in this industry allows me visibility to the technical side of how targeting works. Yet most people may not fathom how we can see what ads they click on and what they do on websites. It evokes a sense of fear in some consumers. I’d like to be able to quell this fear. What I like to explain to people about behavioral advertising is that I do not have the ability to see what Mary Smith, the person, does. What I can see is an aggregate number of data points collected over time telling me, for example, that 100 people clicked on my banner ad and signed up to my newsletter in the month of July. I have no access to PII, but rather can see that my messaging resonated more against my target of women expressing an interest in health.
Overall, I think once the consumers are educated about the technology they won’t reject it. As media agencies, if we can find a way to quickly and efficiently educate consumers on what type of information is really being collected, we can help move them past any state of fear to see what behavioral targeting really enables. I mean if you have to see ads, why wouldn’t you want them to be relevant?
Interested to hear thoughts or feedback. What % of ads do you think are relevant to you in a given day?
