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Tweet ThisAdvertisers have long known that advertising within locations and times when people are more likely to respond. Traditionally their knowledge of the right time and place has relied on general statistics and audience demographics. It is more logical to advertise to people who are actually in the market to purchase? This is the promise of online behavioral targeting (otherwise known as online behavioral advertising OBAI).
Most advertisers will know by now this works by anonymously tracking an individual’s behavior on the Internet by placing a small piece of software code within their browsers which is called a cookie. Cookies track what users see, click on, or otherwise interact with to build a profile of interests which is used to serve advertising that possibly would match said interests. For example, interaction with a car advert might indicate interest in purchasing a car, leading a publisher to push more car advertisements to that particular user.
Cookies can be used to identify returning visitors, and can expire after a designated period. In theory, it would seem that it is a scenario where everyone benefits. Advertisers reach interested audiences, enabling publishers to increase their inventory yields, while consumers receive relevant advertising. Often behavioral data is combined with demographic data from ratings agencies, and with geographic data (geo-targeting) to create highly accurate user profiles.
OBA gave birth to an entire industry, with multimillion dollar companies collecting and trading data, however it didn’t come without controversy. Privacy advocates raised concerns about anonymous tracking especially when it is done without overt user approval. These concerns led to calls with USA and Europe for the creation ‘of “do not track” registers that allow consumers to opt out of being targeted entirely, forcing the placement of cookies in browsers to become an entirely opt-in process. The big issue is that any outcome would completely hamper the ability of publishers to monetize online activities.
