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Ad
industry gets a wake-up call:
How to peacefully co-exist with privacy advocates
 This
summer's been a virtual ice cream sundae of consumer privacy
concerns — a double scoop of Google's court order to
disclose YouTube user logs, topped with TorrentSpy's $115
million fine for destroying user information, sprinkled
with ISP's under fire for affiliations with consumer web-surfing
behavior technologies like NebuAd, and a big fat cherry
of a Facebook class action suit for its Beacon program.
Add to that a decade of malicious spyware, viruses, spam
and pop-ups to stoke both government and consumers' fears,
and it might just sound like a good time to give up ice
cream... but wait.
With
online ad spend consistently growing, and consumers flocking
to the internet to both buy and to research offline purchases,
forward thinking online advertisers look to innovative technologies
to help bridge the gap. Is it possible to bring the relevant
and personalized advertising experience consumers demand,
while at the same time safeguarding their privacy? We think
so.
There
is growing body of evidence to support the fact that users
not only respond better to, but actually prefer, a more
personalized advertising experience. Earlier
this year, a Harris Interactive study disclosed that 55%
of U.S. adults indicated they would be comfortable with
companies using information about their online activities
in order to provide customized advertising or content. But
on the other side of the fence, support
is building for a Congressional measure, dubbed the"Online
Privacy Bill of Rights" that would force companies
to obtain consumers' consent prior to gathering their web-surfing
patterns.
The
right solutions will provide both privacy AND relevance
to the consumer. If the CAN-SPAM act was any indication,
government intervention may not be the answer. Courting
consumers' trust might wind up lying squarely on the shoulders
of the known and trusted brand advertiser, rather than the
not-so-private aggregation of web-surfing patterns by 3rd
party behavioral targeters.
The
current debate is focusing on the ISP's and targeting companies,
without addressing the real issues. For the industry to
prosper, we must take a leadership role in being the stewards
of our own industry.
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