"Want a brighter smile?" "Buy 1 pair of shoes get the other pair free." "Win a vacation to the Bahamas!" "Beware of Spyware.""Closeout Sale!"These are just a few of the typical advertisements we see on a daily basis as we navigate the web. The question is how do we randomly get selected to preview specific ads? Why are some women more likely to receive beauty product ads? The answer is simply based on Online behavioral advertising. This is achieved by collecting information about consumers that demonstrate which websites they are prone to visiting. Based on the information they are able to determine which ads best target the needs of those consumers. What has recently appeared this fall is called the Advertising Option Icon which allows the public to regulate the behavioral advertising they are exposed to. Now companies that are taking part in this program are advised to place the icon near advertisements so customers can click on it to receive more information regarding data practices and even decide to opt out if they wish. Despite the fact that the intention is for consumers to learn more about advertising tactics, many critics wonder if the majority of consumers will ever realize the purpose of the icon? Only with time will we notice the impact on personal privacy. From my perspective I don't believe many companies will directly share the purpose of the icon with consumers. Rather they will probably display in on their sites and just wait and see if the curiosity of those individuals will lead them to discover the meaning behind the icon.
The opt out option won't appear to benefit many companies since they give people the option of whether or not they choose to see advertisements or not. Isn't it annoying to constantly surf the web and every 5 minutes or so see an advertisement block out the original page you were trying to view? Obliviously many of us may click continue on certain pages that advise us that our information may be seen by others just to proceed. We don't realize websites keep track of our searches through cookies that are saved on our web browers cache which saves information pertaining to our searches and login information. Just as many of us have not been aware of this dilemma until recently, so are millions of others that are only a click away from making their personal information easy to retrieve. The self regulatory principles of online behavioral advertising were allegedly released in June 2009, so why hasn't this information been heavily circulated? Are companies skeptical to promote this new icon because they fear it will not benefit them? Although they at least may have it on their website, a sign has no meaning unless it has been previously defined and taught.
Referenced Websites:
http://www.aboutads.info/
http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com
I think companies will be skeptical to promote this new icon because it's giving consumers the option to opt out and could decrease the amount of traffic to their websites and could impact sales. The biggest concern to the consumer is their privacy and how they are tracked online. I think this program can gain more exposure if companies are mandated to use this system as it could possible provide an unfair advantage to the consumer since the company has the option to use this service.
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