Internet advertising is the latest hot-topic in the consumer privacy debate. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission held meetings to discuss online privacy and tracking techniques of corporate marketers. Questions they addressed include how much control people need or want over the information that is collected as they click from site to site. Privacy advocates argue that the government needs to establish guidelines for digital privacy; while some executives in the advertising industry do not see anything wrong with online targeting. This article is an informative briefing of the two-day forum on behavioral targeting, the increasingly popular tactic of delivering ads to people based on personal choices made while surfing the web.
F.T.C. Member Vows Tighter Controls of Online Ads
By: Louise Story
New York Times
November 2, 2007
A MEMBER of the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday that the agency would be exerting a tighter grip over online advertising, partly because of increased tracking by marketing companies of people’s activity on the Internet. Jon Leibowitz, the commissioner, said he was concerned about ads being shown to children online and about the tactics advertisers are using to collect data about people. “When you’re surfing the Internet, you never know who is peering over your shoulder or how many marketers are watching,” he said....
At the forum, privacy advocates and executives from companies like Google and Microsoft debated the trade-off between the personal information that marketers collect and the relevance of the ads that people are shown. While most consumers would prefer to see an ad for something they might possibly buy rather than something irrelevant to them, even within the advertising industry there are disagreements about the kind of data that is appropriate for marketers to use.
Executives from several Internet companies said they could easily improve the quality and accuracy of their online advertising campaigns without compromising basic privacy principles....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/technology/02adco.html?ref=technology
Sunday, November 4, 2007
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The FTC’s decision has far-reaching significance for the marketing activities of the many businesses subject to FTC jurisdiction under the TCFAPA. Prerecorded calls to EBR customers made with autodialers are a cheap and efficient way for businesses to reach their existing customers and notify them of new services. Companies not subject to FTC regulation and companies that make such calls intrastate only, will be able to continue to follow the FCC’s approach. Others must be aware of the FTC restrictions.
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Nancypricella
Search Engine Marketing
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