Perhaps the scariest term in business today is “behavioral targeting.” It also turns out to be one of the best practices around to assure the combination of consumer choice and marketing effectiveness on the Internet. And in that gap lies a dilemma for the marketing and media industries–and, indeed, for all citizens. For if fear overtakes reality, it could dramatically limit the accessibility and diversity of the Web.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Sign up here or log in below.
All content for Voices is selected by, and/or solicited by, the editors of All Things Digital. We do not publish unsolicited or over-the-transom submissions.
Because the site is wholly owned by Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, we aim to adhere to the journalistic standards of the best of the mainstream media. But, because it is run autonomously as a small online startup, we aim to exhibit the fresh thinking and nimbleness of the best of the new media. We want to be first, and sassy, but also well sourced and accurate. We will offer lots of opinion and analysis, but plenty of fact as well.
Comments
Mr. Rothenberg fails to address the central question regarding online advertising. The call for regulation is designed to ensure individuals control their data while on the Internet or using their mobile phones—not companies such as Google, Microsoft, and AOL. Public interest groups are not opposed to interactive marketing: indeed, we recognize it as a key source of funds for online publishing. But Mr. Rothenberg’s members have created a commercial surveillance system that rivals the NSA—tracking and analyzing our every move while on the Internet, all so we can be encouraged to behave favorably to some marketing message. Responsible ad industry leaders will seriously address the privacy threats created by the interactive marketing apparatus—and not hide behind self-serving claims that unless our privacy is lost, we won’t have a robust digital medium. We have already identified problems related to online targeting and data collection with pharma, subprime mortgages, and junk food marketing aimed at children, for example. We urge readers to review the USPIRG/CDD FTC complaints at http://www.democraticmedia.org and also review digitalads.org
Posted by Jeff Chester at April 23rd, 2008 at 5:21 am