Web Users More Comfortable With Behavioral Targeting

03/27/2009

The "Behavioral Targeting Survey Report" recently published by TRUSTe shows that nearly 84% of people who engage in online searches find that only less than a quarter of the ads they are exposed to are relevant to their searches. Roughly 69% of those who took part in the study claimed that they knew their searches were being tracked and collected for the purpose of online advertising

The researchers involved with this study found that consumer uneasiness about this behavior targeting for online advertising is waning as knowledge of the practice becomes more widespread. TRUSTe states that 57% of those polled in 2008 found the technique of behavior targeting to be disturbing; this number dropped to 51% in this year’s poll.

Colin O'Malley, TRUSTe Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Programs, stated that he knows people are concerned but as they grow to learn more about it their discomfort with the concept decreases. His solution is for advertisers to take advantage of the opportunity to be more open about their practices. The way he sees it, any attempts to hide this practice will only take away from the acceptance that it has already garnered.

Basically, the goal of behavior targeting for online advertising is to offer the right ads to the right audience, and the audience of the TRUSTe study agrees. A shocking 72% of those polled stated that it is frustrating when they are exposed toads which have nothing in common with their own wants and needs. O’Malley states that people are aware of the targeting and while they are somewhat concerned about it, they too want to be exposed to ads which are as relevant as possible.

O’Malley suggests that companies who engage in online advertising make subtle attempts to inform Web users about behavioral targeting. One way he proposes that this may be accomplished is by including small messages in banner ads that explain how the advertiser gathered anonymous tracking information that resulted in the banner ad being displayed.

In addition, the study reveals that 75% of Web users who took part in the survey stated that they knew how to protect their personal information while online. Of this number, 39% claimed that they did not bother to take the necessary steps to do so. Roughly 35% stated that they feel like their privacy was invaded during the past year because of certain information they provided on the net. O’Malley states that people are not as concerned with online tracking when it is done by e-commerce companies that they do business with regularly as they are with social networking sites.

Finally, the study showed that 31 percent of users were more comfortable with having their browsing activity tracked by web sites that did so in order to improve their user experience with the site. However, the greater half of those polled stated that they would register online in order to put a stop to behavior tracking of them even if it meant they would receive less relevant ads in the future.

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