05 March 2009 | Author: Katie Todd

Internet Advertising Bureau calls for good behavioural ads

Behavioural ads are a form of advertising that sends targeted ads to users based on their browsing activity in the belief that, by showing ads a user is more likely to be interested in, the user will be more tempted to click.

These ads, however, have been the centre of much controversy with privacy campaigners. Many people consider that being shown adverts for MP3 players after visiting sites of the same subject is an invasion of privacy and believe that companies are 'snooping' on them - an unsettling thought.

Because of the furore, the Internet Advertising Bureau has drawn up a code of practice that has been signed by many of the online advertising industry's main players, including Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. The new guidelines dictate that companies must inform consumers that they are collecting online information about them in order to create specific ads, allow the user to give or refuse consent for such practices and, finally, to educate the consumer about the practice by providing clear and concise information.

The new rules will mean that consumers can choose to opt out of the service - but some privacy campaigners still believe that this is not good enough and that the choice should be to opt in, not out. According to the BBC, privacy advocate Richard Clayton refused to commend the opportunity to opt-out, saying: "The bottom line is that if I'm prepared to tell advertisers where I browse and what adverts I want then all well and good, but I don't want them snooping on me."

The other side of the argument contends that companies using behavioural advertising do not have access to personal information and only utilise cookies stored in consumers' browser histories. The broadcaster reports that Nate Elliot, a principal researcher at Forrester, said: "There is no personally identifiable information. They don't have your name, address or phone number. Instead search terms are linked to a random cookie number in a general geographic area.

"There are dozens of companies that have been doing this type of advertising for years."

Home | Careers | RSS | Contact Us | Newsletter

International sites: