March 12, 2010 » Behavioral Targeting: What’s Next?

Behavioral and demographic targeted ads in the world of online advertising are nothing new to marketers, but for the average consumer and internet user, the reasons why they are seeing a particular ad is somewhat of an enigma. It all comes down to your internet history, or at least your history since the last time you cleared your cache. The sites you visit, the pages you view and in Gmail’s case the words you type in an email are all captured, and that information is used to display ads that are more relevant to your personal interests.

I was first introduced to the use of behavioral targeting in Gmail. For anyone who uses Gmail I’m sure you are familiar with the column of paid search ads running down the right side of your conversations. One day, I noticed that the ads for beach house rentals was particularly relevant to an email exchange with my friends over our pending long weekend at the beach. The coincidence stumped me for a moment, but then the realization came. Gmail was using keywords in the text of my conversation to display relevant and targeted paid search ads to me. And if this was momentarily baffling for me, it must be for others not so internet savvy, especially when it is used in display advertising and not in something as obviously personal as Gmail. So when I stumbled across the recent New York Times article discussing a new icon meant to inform consumers about the use of behavioral targeting I felt compelled to put fingers to keyboard.

The use of targeted ads is on the rise. Government criticism to the practice is becoming louder. More and more consumers are questioning the “why” behind the ads that they are seeing. A little icon, an “i”, developed by the advocacy group, the Future of Privacy Forum, is supposed to help. The idea was to create a symbol that would become as synonymous to information about targeted ads, as the three-arrowed triangle is to recycling. The “i”, within a circle on a blue background, will direct users to a page explaining how their web history and demographic profile was used to determine that they would see this particular ad.¹

More marketers plan to utilize behavioral targeting in their media buys, but face resistance over using that data from consumers and the government. In a recent eMarketer report, it was estimated that behaviorally targeted advertising is expected to rise at a steady growth rate of approximately 20% year over year from 2009 to 2014, topping off at $2.6 billion in 2014.² Marketers view behavioral targeting as an effective way to cut through the ad clutter that consumers are increasingly getting bogged down with and therefore have a tendency to ignore. The “i” is meant to be an important step towards making consumers and the government more comfortable with the practice.

So what does it all mean? For marketers, as the use of the “i” becomes more ubiquitous, creative will need to be developed or adapted to accommodate the symbol (and creative folks will need to get used to a little icon interfering with their aesthetic). Education will need to be given to clients and to other internal stakeholders within their organization, about it and what it means. Also, it’s yet to be determined if the web page explaining the “i” and the use of behavioral targeting will be a standard link, or if each company will be responsible for developing and hosting their own page.

It’s still debatable whether or not all consumers will embrace targeted advertising as it grows in usage. Providing an informational tool to increase the transparency between consumers and advertisers is certainly a good step, but I have to question if it will truly alleviate any unease that some consumers may feel at having examples of their captured behavior staring them in the face. Personal privacy, especially online, is a growing concern for many. For every user that doesn’t like it, I’m sure there will be many others who already do welcome targeted ads and will continue to welcome them even more as they grow in prominence. If you have little control over the fact that you will see advertising online, almost equivalent to the amount of control you have over exposure to television ads, why not embrace ones that will be much more meaningful to you?

In my opinion this is a win-win for both consumers and advertisers. At the very least, targeted ads will translate to increased brand awareness, if not click through rates, while consumers will be exposed to new products, services or messages that are much more meaningful to them.

1. Clifford, Stephanie. “A Little ‘i’ to Teach About Online Privacy.” New York Times 26 January. 2010. Media & Advertising. 2 February. 2010
2. “Privacy Restrictions May Open Ad Targeting Doors.” eMarketer 1 February. 2010. eMarketer Daily. 2 February. 2010